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There is a need for a liberal visa policy for overseas patients coming to hospitals in India in order to encourage the medical tourism sector, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy said on Friday. The healthcare major intends to work closely with the government's 'Heal in India' initiative to encourage the inflow of patients into the country, she stated. "So our idea is to work with the government of India and really evolve this plan called Heal in India. We need enhanced E visas," Reddy told reporters here. Some of the neighbouring countries like Thailand, Turkey, Philippines, and Singapore, which get a large number of patients, have visas on arrival, and they have a visa facility for many countries, she added. "We are requesting the government to enhance the ease of patients coming in, to speed in, and make the medical tourism visas faster, to promote the concept, because India has high-quality healthcare at one-tenth of global prices," Reddy ...
The socio-political unrest in Bangladesh has impacted the medical tourism inflow from the neighbouring country and if the turbulence persists the total footfall from the country may drop by 10-15 per cent this year, a report has said. Bangladesh is the leading contributor to medical tourism among neighbouring countries and accounts for 50-60 per cent of India's total medical tourism inflow, says the report released on Wednesday. Current internal challenges in Bangladesh have impacted the flow of patients as a considerable number of these travellers have either cancelled or postponed their visits, according to a report by knowledge-based analytical group CareEdge Ratings. According to CareEdge Ratings, if the unrest persists, the footfall is likely to decline by 10-15 per cent from Bangladesh during 2024. The contribution of medical tourism to the entire Indian hospital sector is about 3 per cent to 5 per cent. Considering the drop in footfall from Bangladesh along with its gradual