Book Description

India has a comprehensive Healthcare system comprising government and private service providers. Indian healthcare sector comprise of both allopathy & Alternative systems of medicine i.e. AYUSH. Indian Healthcare industry is worth Rs. 730 billion, and occupies 4 per cent of country’s GDP. In India, the Healthcare system is organised into primary, secondary and tertiary levels of delivery system. Healthcare ServicesDuring 2010-11, sales of the industry had grown by 25.4 per cent. During 2011-12 and 2012-13, transactions are expected to grow by a healthy 18.6 per cent and 20.5 per cent respectively. The National Health Policy (NHP)in light of the Directive Principles of the constitution of India recommends "universal, comprehensive primary health care services which are relevant to the actual needs and priorities of the community at a cost which people can afford". Globally, health expenditure as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ballooned in the second half of the 20th century, experiencing an almost threefold increase from 3 per cent in the 1950s to 8.5 per cent by 2014. According to the OECD, key drivers of greater health spending include: Rising incomes; Demographic trends; Ageing Population; Epidemiological trends; and Development and diffusion of new technologies and drugs. The four modes of cross-border delivery of services under GATS can be summarized as follows: Services supplied from one country to another; Consumers or firms making use of a service in another country; A foreign company setting up subsidiaries or branches to provide services in another country; and Individuals travelling from their own country to supply services in another country. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the hospitals and diagnostic center segment has reached a new high in India. India is already charged in this route as evident from the 100% allowance of FDI in the hospital segment under automatic route, since January 2000. There is also an increasing interest among private equity funds, domestic and international financial institutions, venture capitalists, and banks to examine investment opportunities across an extensive range of segments. A developing country like India can adopt a mechanism for healthcare delivery for medical tourists to strengthen its economy by Creating an efficient and economic human resource pool (skilled medical and paramedical professionals), offer competitive costs and high quality of care to medical tourists.