Medical Tourism And Northeast

Medical tourism is a relatively new term for a lot of people reading this, but it’s an age old concept. Medical tourism refers to the activity of people traveling from one place to another to get the medical benefits which are not available at their own location. In its initial stages, it meant travelling from developing to the developed Nations in search of better health care and treatment facilities. However, nowadays, the tables have turned in favor or the developing Nations. People from the first world Nations now travel to third world countries to get equally good treatment at a much cheaper price, or for certain medical procedures which are illegal in their native countries. For example, a lot of tourists come in from Europe and Middle East to India for medical treatments at a lesser cost. While people from India go to Nepal for even cheaper procedures.

- Sisir

PRESENT SCENARIO:

India is a pioneer in this new form of tourism and gradually Tamil Nadu has become the hub of medical tourism in India. Not only for foreigners, it is also the main destination for domestic medical tourists, i.e. people from different parts of India. This flow of tourists have created quite a few changes is the fabric of Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu.

Till about 10 years back, surviving in that city without the knowledge of their language was a nightmare. Even for the most basics of needs, language barrier was distinctly visible! But now the changes are quite evident, especially in one of the largest private hospitals of India- the Apollo group of Hospitals. Both the doctors and administrative staffare now versed at least in Hindi, if not any other north Indian languages, especially from North or Northeast India. This makes it very easy for the patients to interact and explain the problems to the people in charge like the doctors and the staff. This has made diagnostics much easier than before, and hence affecting the service in a positive sense.

EFFECTS