Ramadoss warns on medical tourism

Corporate hospitals' ambitious plans of making India a medical tourism hub may hit a road block as the health minister has issued a warning on developing medical tourism at the cost of Indian patients.

Speaking at the inauguration of Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Centre(CBCC) at Apollo Hospitals in Ahmedabad, Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said, "Needy Indian patients should not suffer because of medical tourism".

He advised corporate hospitals to be cautious while promoting medical tourism.

The caution was issued by the minister after Gujarat's Health Minister Ashok Bhatt and the Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals, Preetha Reddy upheld and praised the development of medical tourism in India. Bhatt attributed the opening of CBCC at Apollo Hospitals to medical tourism.

"Opening a cancer centre will contribute to the growth of medical tourism," Bhatt said. The Gujarat government will draft a medical tourism policy, which will be declared soon, Bhatt said.

Ramadoss also took note of Preetha Reddy's comment, when she spoke about attracting patients from overseas to the newly inaugurated CBCC facility, which would bring credibility in the medical facility and in-turn boost India?s medical tourism prospects.

Referring to these comments, Ramadoss, said, "I would like to remind Miss Reddy about her corporate social responsibility".

"In the future we want private-public partnership for developing better facility for patients," Ramadoss said. He added that he would focus on rural health under the national rural health programmes.

However, he praised the state government?s impressive progress in integrated medical systems that was being bpracticed in Gujarat. "The integration of Indian system of medicine with modern medical system is happening in Gujarat and the Centre wants to replicate it in other parts of the country," Ramadoss added.

He called the state government's `Chiranjivi programme? a model programme that the Centre may replicate in other states.

He also urged Apollo Hospital to emphasis on research centres in disciplines like stem cells, nano particles technology etc. The CBCC centre is build at a cost of Rs 25 to Rs 30 crore.