Now, medical visas for foreign tourists

The India government will introduce special medical visas for foreign tourists who come to India for specialised medical treatment.

The medical visa will be helpful for those who come for long-term complicated procedures like knee replacement, cardiac surgery, organ transplant and plastic surgery. The visa will also be helpful for those coming to India for ophthalmic care and treatment of congenital diseases.

Until now, such patients had to enter the country on a tourist visa, valid for six months and subject to extension after the Union home ministry's permission alone. This caused inconvenience to the patients if long-drawn treatment was needed.

The medical visa will initially be valid for a year or the duration of treatment, whichever is less, and can be extended for another year.

For the third year, a prior permission would be required from the Foreign Regional Registration Office.

Under the medical visa rules, patients will have the facility to bring two attendants -- spouse and blood relations. They will be allowed two entries in a year, which means patients can change attendants.

The visa will even be applicable for countries like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This visa will enable international patients to have access to finest medical care in the most recognised and specialised hospitals of the country.

Says Dr Ramakanta Panda, CEO, Asian Heart Institute & Research Centre: "Introduction of the medical visa has been an offshoot of rising medical tourism in our country. Asian Heart Institute is fortunate to be the hub of medical tourists in western India and I am sure this step by the government will boost the influx of international patients by offering them greater convenience."

Low cost, specialised medical treatment with state-of-the art infrastructure has been the primary reason for the rise in medical tourism over the past one year. It is estimated that in India medical tourism will become a $2 billion industry by 2012.

Asian Heart Institute itself gets five to seven foreign patients per week. The introduction of the medical visa will thus be beneficial in encouraging this industry and this in turn will result in a big boom for foreign exchange of India as medical treatment in India is considered to be of high quality at a reasonable cost.