Medical tourism commences for treatment at India’s Manipal Hospitals
Covid-19 had hampered the treatment for patients who needed to fly to India for better treatments and procedures
The situation is gradually beginning to normalise, and foreign travel restrictions have been eased in India. However, earlier, due to the pandemic, medical tourism had suffered major setbacks and patients had to postpone their surgeries and other treatments due to travel restrictions. This impacted many lives and made the patient's conditions even worse, increasing the morbidity and mortality risk associated with treatable and preventable health conditions. The delay also contributed to the reported excess deaths indirectly related to Covid-19. Many hospitals after the ease on travelling, have started extending their services to the international patients who wish to seek treatment in India for their medical conditions.
Manipal Hospital is urging patients not to delay any further in their treatments and surgeries. The hospital is delivering healthcare services to international patients while adhering to strict safety standards. At the same time, the Manipal Overseas Patient Care Centre provides great services for its international patients, such as visas, transportation and insurance.
Offering services to overseas patients
Despite the pandemic, the hospital has successfully handled cases of critical patients who required kidney, liver, and heart transplants. With international borders now reopening, the hospital is able to use its air ambulance services for patients in different countries.
Karthik Rajagopal, Chief Operating Officer of Manipal Hospital Enterprise, said: “Many patients had to postpone their treatments due to the pandemic, but now that the Covid cases in India have been brought under control and international crossings are opening, we are glad to offer our services to our overseas patients.
“It is now critical to recognise that delaying both emergency and routine medical care will increase the danger of the underlying diseases worsening and may result in mortality. With the opening of international borders, we can now continue to assist overseas patients who have had their procedures postponed due to the pandemic and travel restrictions.”
The medical tourism industry seems to be getting better as the pandemic subsides and the situation improves, patients are coming for treatments that they had to postpone due to the pandemic. Patients with chronic illnesses and those in need of organ transplants are increasingly travelling to other countries for treatment.