Kerala Tradition & Fascinating Destinations 2014 Kerala Tradition & Destinations 2014 | Page 378

In the beginning, it was the search for agricultural land that forced man to
move around. In the medieval age, it was journeys in search of treasures
that lead to colonization. In the modern age, man wanted to move around
as he wanted to see places which had been alien to him hitherto. Now he
is exploring places not only for satiating his thirst for seeing newer lands
alone but people travel across the globe in search of health destinations
as well.
The Genesis
Though there were people who travelled cutting across the borders of
nations seeking health services even thousands of years ago, it can’t be
brought under the concept of health tourism as such journeys were far
and few between. The first recorded instance of medical tourism dates
back thousands of years to when Greek pilgrims travelled from all over
the Mediterranean to the small territory in the Saronic Gulf called
Epidauria. This territory was the sanctuary of the healing God Asclepius.
Epidauria became the original travel destination for medical tourism.
Spa towns and sanitariums may be considered an early form of medical
tourism. In eighteenth century England, for example, patients visited spas
because they were places with supposedly health-giving mineral waters,
treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. But such
juries got such a dimension and popularity to be termed as health tourism
only in the recent times, thanks to the state-of-the-art travel and
communication facilities which have transformed the world into a village.
Modern medical tourism is defined as patient movement from highly
developed nations to less developed areas of the world for medical care
by bypassing services offered in their own communities. As such, today’s
medical tourism is different from the traditional model of international
medical travel where patients generally journey from less developed
nations to major medical centres in highly developed countries for medical
treatment that is unavailable in their own communities. Apparently,
medical tourism is now related to globalization and neo-liberal healthcare
policies. The range of services typically sought by travellers includes
elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as
joint replacement, cardiac surgery, dental surgery and cosmetic surgeries.
Individuals with rare genetic disorders may travel to another country where
treatment of these conditions is better understood. Over 50 countries
including India have identified medical tourism as a national industry.
The Indian Scenario
Medical tourism is a growing sector in India. India’s medical tourism
sector is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 30% making it a
$2 billion industry by 2015 according to latest estimates. Indian Medical
Tourism industry according to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is
expected to be worth US$ 4billion by 2017 and India has a potential to
attract one million health tourists per annum which will contribute US$ 5
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MEDICAL TOURISM|TRADITION AND DESTINATIONS