India has become a prominent player in the medical tourism industry, offering high-quality healthcare services at costs significantly lower than those in Western nations.
To capitalise further on this sector, the Indian government is promoting traditional medical systems like Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Psychology and Homoeopathy to travellers. These unique areas of expertise are poised to propel India's medical tourism boom as more people turn to alternative medicine for chronic illnesses.
The growing international demand for homeopathic treatment
Homeopathy has seen a lot of turbulence in recent years but has stood its ground in offering a gentle, holistic mode of treatment for a wide variety of ailments such as chronic conditions, allergies, auto-immune disorders and lifestyle-related diseases, according to Dr Arvind Kishore, a well-known homoeopath doctor with decades of experience. He said, “A lot more people are now open and enthusiastic in approaching alternative systems of therapeutics to long-term amelioration and cure. As a consequence patients from abroad are willing and keen to get Homeopathic treatment in India.
“An important reason for the international patients being attracted to seek Homeopathic treatment here is the cost-effectiveness as the economics of long term, constitutional treatment especially for chronic ailments may involve protracted treatment and follow-up in India, that is a distinct advantage that reliable Homeopathic medicines are quite readily available, definitely less expensive and even follow up course of treatments can be maintained and pursued upon conveniently.”
About the future scope of international demand for homoeopathy, Dr Kishore said, “Medical Tourism in Homeopathy, although in its infancy, has opened up and is soon to be, a very acceptable and approachable mode of therapeutics which would in itself, attracting patients to India. Rigorous standards of prescribing, availability of quality Homeopathic remedies, and vast experience of clinical homoeopaths here, where it is widely accepted and used are areas where such a concept would work for patients and doctors alike.”
Preference for culturally sensitive psychiatric care
Psychiatry is a promising field for medical tourism, especially for South Asian families abroad. Non-Resident Indians, despite adjusting to new environments, often find it difficult to access culturally sensitive psychological support in their adopted countries due to a lack of understanding of their cultural nuances.
According to Dr Mukul Choksi, a prominent Psychiatrist based in Surat, “Several Indians living abroad are turning to their homeland for medical assistance, where there is a deeper understanding of their cultural context and needs. Additionally, factors such as cost-effectiveness and the faltering healthcare systems in some foreign countries make India an attractive option.”
He shared his opinion on the scope of medical tourism in psychiatry, he said, “In the realm of medical tourism, psychiatry presents unique challenges. Unlike other medical fields such as surgery, fertility treatments, or dentistry, which often require just one-time interventions, mental health care is more intricate and typically demands ongoing treatment. The complexity lies in initiating treatment in person and then attempting to manage it remotely, which can be quite challenging. India is currently more adept at handling short-term wellness issues rather than long-term mental health care.”
However, Dr Choksi has been focusing on a particular issue, which is the professional aspect of handling seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a disorder that stems from a lack of biochemical comfort due to insufficient sunlight, leading individuals to seek treatments such as light therapy. Given this scenario, there's an untapped opportunity in medical tourism that India could capitalise on.
