Medical Tourism in Modern Medicine: The Kerala Perspective

Abstract

Medical Tourism has become a fast-growing industry in the world. Among the world tourist destinations, India has attained a top position along with other Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The main reasons favorable to India are lower treatment cost, absence of long waiting list, availability of expert doctors and advanced medical care. Among the Indian states, Kerala is at the top in medical tourism industry, combining improved medical facilities, expert and foreign trained doctors and improved tourism facilities.  Most of the corporate hospitals in Kerala gets patients who are either relatives of Non Resident Indians and those from abroad. Some of the hospitals have a liaison centre in other countries and considering the cost of treatment being low are able to attract more patients. This study looks into the aspect of the same and also some of the challenges faced in medical tourism.