Govt sets up board to boost medical tourism

To boost medical tourism, the government on Friday announced setting up of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to provide help to those visiting the country for health care need.

"The Board, besides Ministry officials, will include other stakeholders such as hospitals, hoteliers, medical experts and tour operators," Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said after launching a brochure on yoga, titled 'India-the Land of Yoga'.

India is an affordable destination for people looking for best medical care at <g data-gr-id="26">cost</g> much lower than that of developed countries. This would also give a boost to alternative treatment such as yoga, <g data-gr-id="31">ayurveda</g> and <g data-gr-id="32">unani</g>, he said.

In a KPMG report, released last year, India was placed among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia (Thailand and Singapore being the other two), mainly due to the low cost of treatment, quality healthcare infrastructure and availability of highly-skilled doctors.

"These three countries together accounted for about 60 <g data-gr-id="28">per cent</g> of the total Asian revenue in 2012," the report, Medical Value Travel in India, by global consultancy firm KPMG and Ficci had said.

The brochure on yoga, released by Sharma, contains details of various yoga centres in the country, besides names of some of <g data-gr-id="24">yogas</g> and their benefits.

Sharma also launched the second edition of the social awareness campaign films -- 'Atithi Devo Bhava' -- by the Tourism Ministry.

India and the rest of the world are set to observe June 21 (Sunday) as International Yoga Day, an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Minister also said that the government would set up four more tourism circuits next year which include spirituality, the Ramayan, desert and wildlife.

The second edition of 'Atithi Devo Bhava', which features Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, who is the 

brand ambassador, has been made by Prasoon Joshi and focuses on observing honesty, maintaining cleanliness and hygiene and having helpful attitude towards tourists.