Indian Government policy to support trade in medical tourism services

The Central as well as the State Governments in India have recognised the economic benefits of development and export of world class healthcare facilities and services to medical tourists, along with providing collaborative and supportive environment to the private healthcare service providers in partnership with the various stake holders to improve the quality of medical service, affordability and destination infrastructure. In the 2003 budget speech, the treasurer promised to invest in medical tourism related infrastructure services and to promote India as a “Global Health Destination”, providing first world, high-tech medical treatment with state of the art medical facilities and qualified medical specialists at an affordable comparative cost. This conceptual paper provides a brief overview the literature related to medical tourism and trade in healthcare services. Further, it critically examines and discusses he policy measures taken by the Indian Government mainly to develop, support and promote trade in the medical tourism industry in partnership with private providers to make this industry globally competitive and sustainable in the long-run, as a first class ‘Global Health and Medical Tourism Destination’ to the world.