Kerala pavilion attracts record number of visitors
MUSCAT: With more than 21 exhibitors offering a wide variety of services, the Kerala pavilion at the Oman Health Exhibition and Conference recorded a huge number of visitors. The attractively designed pavilion located at Concourse Hall 2 had various services with included consultation facilities made through prior appointments online, through the special website created and promoted for the same.
A varied number of reasons aid Kerala in being a priority Medical tourism destination. The equable climate, natural abundance of forests and the cool Monsoon season of Kerala are best suited for curative and restorative packages. The beautiful state of Kerala boasts of not only the nation’s best health care indices but also of 26 internationally accredited hospitals of which most are JCI and NABH accredited offering uncompromised quality of care.
For medical value travel, flight connectivity across countries forms an essential factor. Kerala enjoys a strategic placement on the Indian map offering seamless connectivity through the Middle East and Far East. International airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Khozhikode allow visitors to fly to any part of Kerala in less than three hours. Kerala tops the indices for India’s lowest infant mortality and highest life expectancy rates. With a 100 percent literacy rate, Kerala has the highest Physical Quality of Life Index in India and is the only Indian state with macro health indicators on par with OECD countries.
With a year-round pleasant climate, Kerala provides the perfect natural setting for Ayurveda’s healing touch. Kerala’s tropical forests are home to over 900 different Ayurvedic herbs and medicinal plants and Agasthyakoodam, a peak in the southern part, nurtures some of the rarest varieties - most of them endemic to the region. In Kerala, Ayurveda, is not just a healthcare system but it is a part and parcel of every aspect of life, in Kerala.
A large chunk of patients arriving in Kerala seem to be from Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE and from African nations such as Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya. Bangladeshi patients who previously preferred Chennai and Vellore now flock to Kerala for their healthcare needs. Presently orthopaedics, cardiology, neurology, urology and gynaecology are the medical streams receiving the bulk of foreign patients.
A large percentage of European travellers also seem to be choosing the state for dental care which can be attributed to the heavy medical costs involved in dental care in the west.
Medical visa are being provided to those seeking treatment in Kerala. As the rates standardized for International patients vary considerably from those for domestic patients, MVT functions are a major source of revenue for hospitals in the state. It also helps keep costs at a minimum for domestic patients while still helping the super-specialty centres maintain their superlative infrastructure and polished ambiance.