India's medical tourism sector with international delivery capabilities attracts GCC patients: Apollo Hospitals

Indian medical tourism industry which is expected to touch US$2 Billion by 2015 has seen an increase in patients from UAE, Qatar and Oman

Dubai, UAE, September 15, 2014: Apollo Hospitals, Asia’s foremost healthcare provider, has stated that India’s medical tourism ecosystem with International excellence coupled with major cost advantages has seen growing interest levels from patients from GCC and the greater Middle Eastern region. As per published reports, the Indian medical tourism industry is projected to reach US$2 billion with an estimated 3,200,000 medical value travellers arriving in India by 2015 growing at an annual rate of 30%. Recently, Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, had teamed up with Apollo Hospitals, to connect international patients with quality healthcare services in India.

“The proven Indian clinical competencies give India a huge competitive advantage. We have seen the number of patients visiting us from GCC region growing at a rapid pace.  In the last few quarters we have seen a remarkable increase from UAE, Qatar and Oman. Comparing global prices for medical treatment, India leads in the race for providing quality healthcare services at affordable prices. A heart bypass surgery in India costs USD 6,500, while in the US it costs between USD 30,000 and USD 80,000. This is a huge, untapped market, not just for therapeutic medical tourism like Ayurveda, but also for curative treatment,” said Dr. K. Hariprasad, CEO, Apollo Hospitals.

As part of the joint venture with Emirates Airlines, the patients and their attendants from 19 countries across Middle East and Africa can visit the hospital’s flagship locations in Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmadabad and Bangalore to avail specially formulated fares for round-trip flights on Emirates.  

Chennai headquartered, Apollo Hospitals, has been accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) USA. An accredited hospital assures the best practices in a safe environment and that the patient is in ‘safe’ hands. JCI accreditation is the Gold Standard for US and European hospitals as it reflects provision of the highest levels of patient care and patient safety. Apollo Hospital, Chennai caters to the patients travelling from Middle East with various speciality services it is recognized for. The hospital’s Chennai unit performs the highest no of Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) cases with a very high success rate. 

The Chennai unit also specializes in Oncology as the centre was the first to introduce ‘CyberKnife’ and would be introducing the ‘Proton Beam’ in the near future. Other super-speciality services include ‘Mazor Robotic Spine’ surgery apart from heart, liver, lung and kidney transplants. The Chennai unit with its multi-speciality services and medical innovation has attracted a large number of patients from the Middle East region.

“Majority of our doctors are trained or specialized in UK, USA and Australia and compare with the best in the world, in their chosen specialities. Apollo Hospitals has transformed 37 million lives from across 120 countries in its endeavour to provide the best healthcare services to patients. India has the necessary medical talent, soft and hard infrastructure and capabilities to become a major global healthcare destination. In addition to the cost advantage of providing best in class medical service at around 10% of global costs, the unique Indian care and compassionate service is often preferred in comparison to other countries,” added  Dr. Hariprasad.

“Apollo Hospitals Group is at the forefront of Medical Tourism to make India the global healthcare destination. Our mission is to bring healthcare of international standards within the reach of every individual. We are committed to the achievement and maintenance of excellence in education, research and healthcare for the benefit of humanity. Providing quality healthcare of the best grade at affordable prices is our earnest endeavours as we project ourselves to be the leading institution in the medical tourism industry,” added Dr. Hariprasad.

The hospital has recently treated, Damien, a one year old boy from Mauritius with a rare syndrome called IPEX syndrome. IPEX stands for Immune Dysregulation Polyendocrinopathy Enteropathy X-linked. IPEX Syndrome is a rare genetic autoimmune disease due to mutations in the FOXP3 gene, located on the X-chromosome. In another case Rehan, had come as a 5 month old baby from Tanzania with thalassaemia major. Transfusion of blood every month was the only treatment available in their country.  Apollo Speciality Hospital Chennai identified a voluntary stem cell donor in India through a registry called DATRI. The child has not received any transfusions for over 6 months and the family has returned home with a child cured of thalassaemia.

In early 2014, Apollo Health City, Hyderabad was bestowed the prestigious 'International Medical Tourism Award' for Excellence in customer service, by the reputed International Medical Travel Journal, UK, at a glittering ceremony in Dubai. The dedication to customer service rendered by Apollo Health City was applauded on the international platform attended by number of dignitaries from healthcare, insurance, pharmaceutical industries from around the world.