Gulf region account for 30 pc of Apollo patients from abroad

Gulf Cooperation Council countries account for 30 per cent of the traffic of medical patient flow to Apollo facilities in India out of the 120 countries that it caters to, according to the private healthcare group.
This corroborates the fact that India's medical tourism sector is a growing source for foreign exchange and it is also a symbol of prestige and goodwill outside India, it said.
India is a lucrative market for international patients and receives a lot of inquiries about 'M' or medical visas; this in turn will help boost medical tourism in India.
The Indian medical tourism industry is projected to reach USD 2 billion with an estimated 3,200,000 medical value travellers arriving in India in 2015, growing at an annual rate of 30 per cent based on ASSOCHAM's report.

"Healthcare experts believe that this opportunity can be realised and India can target a GDP share of 2 per cent from medical tourism in 10 years from now," said Apollo Hospitals CEO K Hariprasad.
"Apollo Hospitals Group is at the forefront of medical tourism to make India the global healthcare destination," said Srinidhi Chidambaram -Vice President - International Division.

Middle Eastern patients come to India for treatment to units like Apollo Chennai for an entire gamut of super specialty services.
"Comparing global prices for medical treatment, India leads in the race for providing quality healthcare services at affordable prices. Apollo Hospitals has transformed 37 million lives from across 120 countries in its endeavour to provide the best healthcare services to patients," Hariprasad said.

GCC member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.