Heal in India: Govt to ease visa norms to boost medical infra
The government has drawn up a plan to augment the medical infrastructures of 17 cities, in a bid to boost medical travel as part of its 'Heal in India' initiative
krishna murthy
Besides, the health ministry is working on easing medical visa norms and other requirements for patients and their companions from 44 countries.
These are predominantly African, Latin American countries and also members of the SAARC and Gulf Cooperation Council groupings.
Through 'Heal In India', the government aims at positioning the country as a global hub for medical and wellness tourism.
The cities that will be targeted in phase one of the initiative are New Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Gurugram, Bangaluru, Amritsar, Kochi, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guntur, Alappuzha, Guwahati, Chennai, Chandigarh, Vellore and Hyderabad.
A web portal will be created as a one-stop shop for services provided by medical travel facilitators and hospitals with an interface for foreign patients.
The portal will display standardized package rates based on the classification of hospitals, different systems of medicines, etc.
There will also be a mechanism to track patient journey by creating a unique health ID under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission framework and monitor service delivery in identified health facilities in India.