Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya today addressed the roundtable conference with senior IFS Officers on Building Brand India at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Addressing the occasion, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya noted that India with its high-end healthcare ecosystem and world-class medical facilities has become an attraction for the whole world. He said, “Today, people from different countries of the world are coming to India for treatment in large numbers. With an aim to further boost Medical Tourism, the Government of India has launched 'Heal in India' program under the leadership of Hon’ble PM. Similarly, we have started the 'Heal by India' program. This will provide an opportunity for our medical workforce to travel all over the world and contribute towards a healthy global society”. “We are committed to making India a Global Medical Value Hub by further strengthening our traditional medicine industry and boosting 'Heal in India' & 'Heal by India' initiatives”, he added.

Highlighting the need to take steps to further strengthen the Medical Value Tourism, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya suggested establishing facilitation centres at the Indian Embassies across the world for the people wanting to travel India for treatment. In addition, a system to get feedback/testimonials from people who are getting treated in India can be instituted. This will help us in making medical tourism, ‘Brand India’.  A ‘One Step’ portal is being made for the convenience and ease of credible information for those who want to take treatment in India from abroad, he added.

Stressing on the need to forge agreements with other countries in the area of the medical sector,  the Union Health Minister noted that we have an agreement with Japan to provide skilled nurses. Such agreements have also been made with other countries for skilled medical manpower. He said that these kinds of possibilities should be explored to promote medical value tourism. “In the last few years, medical value travel has gained a lot of popularity and India is now one of the fastest growing Medical Tourism Centers in Asia”, he added.

Highlighting the importance of the traditional system of medicines, the Union Minister noted “India has established itself as the focal point of AYUSH. Recently, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has announced to launch 'AYUSH mark'. This will provide authenticity to AYUSH products in India and promote the traditional medicine industry. A Special Visa Category has been made for those coming to India from other countries for Ayurveda Treatment. The provision of Medical Visa and Medical Attendant Visa has been made with 165 countries to get Ayurveda treatment.”

While concluding, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya urged everyone to share suggestions to strengthen the medical tourism sector and make India a ‘Global Medical Hub’ in line with the spirit of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. This will not only benefit the Medical Tourism and Healthcare Sector, but also our service industry.

Recently, the Medical Tourism Index 2020-21 by the Medical Tourism Association has been issued. According to this, India is currently at 10^th position out of the top 46 countries, 12^th in world’s top 20 wellness tourism markets, 5^th out of 10 wellness tourism markets in Asia-Pacific region. The treatment costs in India are 65 to 90% less than the cost of treatment in America. In India, there are 39 JCI and 657 NABH accredited hospitals, which is equal to or better than Global Quality Standards and Benchmarks

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HFW / HFM Building Brand India meeting with IFS Officers /12May2022/4