Government sets up board to boost medical tourism

New Delhi, June 19: To boost medical tourism, the government on Friday announced setting up of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to provide help to those visiting the country for health care need.

“The board, besides ministry officials, will include other stakeholders such as hospitals, hoteliers, medical experts and tour operators," tourism minister Mahesh Shar ma said after launching a brochure on yoga, titled 'India-the Land of Yoga'.

India is an affordable destination for people looking for best medical care at cost much lower than that of developed countries. This would also give a boost to alternative treatment such as yoga, ayurveda and unani, he said.

In a KPMG report released last year, India was placed among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia (Thailand and Singapore being the other two), mainly due to the low cost of treatment, quality healthcare infrastructure and availability of highlyskilled doctors.

“These three countries together accounted for about 60% of the total Asian revenue in 2012," the report, Medical Value Travel in India, by global consultancy firm KPMG and Ficci had said.

The brochure on yoga, released by Sharma, contains details of various yoga centres in the country, besides names of some of yogas and their benefits.

Sharma also launched the second edition of the social awareness campaign films -- 'Atithi Devo Bhava' -by the tourism ministry.

In a KPMG report released last year, India was placed among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia