Niche medical services boom but essential healthcare lags
Recent anecdotal surveys have shown a new boom in the private healthcare industry driven by super-speciality hospitals hosting overseas patients for complex surgeries and treatments. Despite the Covid freeze, the Union Ministry of Health has noted that travel to India for medical reasons almost doubled from 182,000 in 2020 to 304,000 in 2021. Private estimates are much higher at two million patients a year. Complex procedures like liver transplants and hip replacements have been attracting a vast overseas clientele in the recent past. Private hospital chains like Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare, Fortis, Wockhardt, and now Reliance offer medical services of international standards. They also have been investing heavily in R&D, like using robotics in surgery. This has helped India grab 6.5% of the global ‘medical tourism’ business, and emerge as No. 10 among the best 46 medical destinations globally.
More than the technology, the fraction of the cost people incur compared to facilities elsewhere makes India so attractive. A breast cancer procedure varies between Rs 7 and Rs 12 lakh in India compared to about Rs 45 lakh in the US. Cosmetic dental procedures cost half the price. Though difficult to estimate, medical tourism is believed to be a $9 billion market today and is expected to climb to $13 billion by 2026. This is good news for hospitals, medical professionals and employment in general.
While the private healthcare sector has made significant progress, accessibility to affordable medical care for most is still a chimera. Secondary and tertiary medical facilities like hospitals exist in towns and cities. But the last mile—the rural primary health centres (PHCs)—functions poorly with inadequate staff and, worse, with little or no commitment and resources. Though government budgetary allocation for healthcare has been steadily increasing from 1.6% of GDP in FY 2021 to 2.1% in FY 2023, it is still amongst the lowest in the world. Facts speak: 60% paid for medical care out of pocket despite all the government schemes available on paper, and just 40% or 514 million people have access to some form of medical insurance. This is not to argue against private super-speciality services. They are important and generate much-needed revenue. What is required, though, is a dual approach—super-specialisation at one end, along with a basic but efficient healthcare network accessible to every Indian.