As medical tourism looks set to expand further, India must make use of the opportunity while ensuring that it does not create a health divide. ….

Read this report by G. ANANTHAKRISHNAN

Read this great article about Kerala Tourism by AMRITA SHAH ….
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It starts…..

“God’s own country they called it, but I took that with a pinch of salt. After all, it was just an ad campaign. Yeah sure, anyone who had visited there raved about it so, but c’mon…. wasn’t calling it “God’s own country” pushing it? ”

Click Here to read the full article

Here is an old news but with great value for Indian Medical Tourism …

A man from Devon travelled to India for a heart operation after he was told he would have to wait at least a year for treatment on the NHS.

The whole trip, including the hospital treatment in Mumbai, also cost Mike Cooke about a quarter of what it would have cost privately in the UK.

Mr Cooke, 59, from Diptford, was treated for Atrial Flutter.

The Department of Health said if a patient wanted to travel abroad for treatment then that was their choice.

‘Five-star hotel’

Mr Cooke’s Atrial Flutter saw his heart occasionally speed up to quadruple its normal rate.

In despair at the surgery’s possible wait or cost, he went on the internet and found a company which arranged for transport and treatment in Mumbai.

He said: “I was told the wait if I went with the NHS would have been about a year. If I went private I could have got it done immediately, but at a cost of £8,500 minimum.

“The whole bill at end of the trip was £2,300. That included the treatment and even a suite for my partner to stay with me, with room service and laundry service.

“I felt I was treated a bit like a celebrity, and it was a hospital that felt like a five-star hotel.”

read the full story here 

More than 40 National and International para glider pilots will participate in the 3 day International Paragliding Festival, beginning at Vagamon on April 6 - 2006.

Paragliding (known in some countries as parapenting) is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.

It is closely related to hang gliding, but quite different from parasailing/parascending, which doesn’t involve free flight. (Paramotoring uses the same equipment, with the addition of a propeller mounted behind the pilot, making it a form of ultra-light aviation as opposed to free flight).

World famous gliders like Bruce Mills (Newzealand) and Paul James (UK) have confirmed their participation.

The Paragliding Festival is jointly organised by Kerala Tourism and Adventure Sports and Sustainable Tourism Academy.

The Kerala Tourism Industry bagged 6 National Tourism Awards for year 2004-05. The national awards instituted by the Union Ministry for Tourism for the excellent performance in the field of tourism in the year 2004-05 was given away by Ambika Soni, Union minister of tourism at a glittering function in New Delhi on March 17. K C Venugopal, Kerala minister for tourism received the awards.

Awards are for:

• The best performing tourism state and for outstanding achievements in the area of tourism and the tourism-friendly monuments award for Sakthan Thampuran Palace, Kochi.

• Best Eco-friendly Resort

• Best Heritage Classic for CGH Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom

• Best three-star resort for CGH Brunton Boatyard, Kochi

• Special awards for Invis Multimedia’s Ayurveda - The Mantra of Nirmaya

• Tourism India’s Kerala Tourism Handbook.

The national awards instituted by the Union Ministry for Tourism for the excellent performance in the field of tourism in the year 2004-05 was given away by Ambika Soni, Union minister of tourism at a glittering function in New Delhi on March 17. K C Venugopal, Kerala’s minister for tourism received the awards.

The second India Medical Tourism EXPO takes place this year at Olympia, London from the 2 - 4 June. Following the success of last year’s exhibition, the 2006 EXPO will focus on India as a global health care and tourism destination and patients travelling overseas for therapy.

This will be great opportunity form Kerala Medical Tourism Operators.

The Medical Tourism Expo 2006 Press Release

Following the success of last year’s exhibition, the 2006 EXPO will focus on India as a global health care and tourism destination and patients travelling overseas for therapy.
With increasing waiting times and the prohibitive cost of seeking    private medical treatment in the UK, many patients are now seeking treatment in India.
India offers some of the best medical treatments in the world and has experienced a boom in recent years in patients or ‘medical tourists’ as they have become known, travelling there for treatment.
Healthcare facilities are among the most cost effective in the world, with private hospitals and clinics offering treatments at a fraction of the price offered by private hospitals in the UK.
Some of the world’s leading doctors are from India and many have trained in the UK before going back to India to practice medicine; all doctors must be registered with the Medical Council of India, the Indian equivalent of the UK’s General Medical Council.
Travel time from the UK is only nine hours with many direct flights from the UK.  Even with the cost of flights and accommodation treatment in India can still be up to 60% cheaper than the equivalent procedure in the UK.
India Medical Tourism EXPO (IMTE) will provide the opportunity for health care professionals and the public to attend and meet many of the health care providers from India and see the state-of-the-art facilities offered at the country’s private hospitals and clinics.  Represented at the year’s event will be:

• Private hospitals
• Dental, ophthalmologic and cosmetic clinics
• Travel agents, airlines and hotels & resorts
• State Governments
• Departments of Tourism
• Insurance companies
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Surgical equipment manufacturers

Building on the success of last year’s exhibition IMTE has introduced many new aspects for 2006, including a focus on all the major states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan that are working together to promote medical tourism.  Also on show will be alternative medicines and therapies like Ayurveda and Homeopathy and their wide array of treatments to promote spiritual and mental well-being.
This high profile event is supported by the UK’s Indian High Commission, Indian Association of Tour Operators and the Indian Government’s Ministry of Tourism.  The official endorsement and active participation by the Ministry of Tourism is testament to the importance the Government of India places on promoting India as a tourism and health destination.
There will also be business sessions on relevant topics from within the industry with panel discussions at each forum.  Speakers will include doctors, medical professionals and Government officials from India.

For further information contact

Notes to editor
The Indian Government has recently introduced Medical Visas for those visiting the country for treatment.  The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is responsible for quality standards in all hospitals and clinics.

The Medical Council of India is the equivalent of the General Medical Council; all doctors must be registered in order to practice.
India Medical Tourism Expo 2006 is wholly owned by International Business Events (IBE).  IBE manages and organises events for a range of industries, including; medical, health, tourism, education, information technology and finance.  For further information go to www.ibeworld.com
For further information on India Medical Tourism Expo go to www.medtourismexpo.com