Halal hospital. Sound strange? Could be because the word Halal generally precedes food items or can go with hotels and restaurants, at least in our part of the world. But there has come up now a Halal hospital here. Global Health City, Chennai is said to be the first hospital in India to achieve Halal certification.
A world class tertiary multi super specialty hospital, Global Health City has received the Halal certification for its hospital services by Halal India – an independent Halal certification body registered with government of India and recognized by IHIA (International Halal Integrity Alliance, Malaysia), a partner of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
The certificate of being Halal (permitted in Islam), hope owners of the hospital, will further help in boosting medical value travel from Muslim countries particularly from SAARC, Middle East, North Africa and South East Asian Region which constitutes around 75 percent share of patient traffic to the hospital.
Dr. K. Ravindranath, Chairman & MD, Global Hospitals Group, said “With about two billion Muslims worldwide and a major number of international health travellers coming to Global Health City from the Islamic nations, we see Halal Certification as a form of approval that boosts our patients’ trust and confidence in our range of hospital services. To earn the certification, Global Health City had to meet strict Islamic guidelines dealing with hygiene & dietary regulations of global standards.”
TCN contacted Halal India to know how they check that food items (for example meat) provided there are Halal, and what kind of items/services covered by the Halal certificate.
On whether the Halal certification to Global Health City hospital cover only food or other services as well, like medicines and other treatments, Mohammad Noman, General Manager (operations), Halal India said: Halal Friendly Medical Tourism services include Food, Prayer Hall, Qibla Direction mark, Payer mate, copies of Quran, for woman patients woman doctor’s appointments (based on request).
These services are provided at the Chennai hospital also. The hospital provides a prayer room and holds Friday prayers also. Besides, there are customized cuisine and Arabic TV channels in the patient rooms.
On medicines, he said: “Still this market is not matured in India unlike other countries like Malaysia, Singapore. We need to educate Muslims to seek Halal Certified medicines in future (Lot of capsules in India made with gluten (Pig or Beef).”
How do you check that meat, for example, served at the hospital is Halal? “We do the site audit and ensure that meat supplier MUST follow the Shariah Compliance based on Malaysian Standards. (Halal India got approval from Malaysian Govt to adopt Malaysian Standards). Also Butcher must be practicing Muslim and undergo Halal India’s one day training and obtain the name batch and certifications.”
Animals for food are kept in very inhuman condition at slaughterhouse or butchers’ home in most parts of India. Does the Halal hospital provide some good facility to the animals? Mr. Noman said we follow the Malaysian Standards and Practice in this regard.
Mohamed Jinna, CEO, Halal India stated “We have great heritage for service and hospitality in India which also signifies that we can take good care of patients. The state of art technologies available in medical care is just perfect for overseas patients. All we need to do is understand their culture and custom so that we accommodate them well and make them feel truly at home”
“This way we can respect their values and belief and at the same time cater to this niche market in India,” he further added.
Global Health City, Chennai is a 500-bed super specialty tertiary care facility, with a capacity to expand to 1000 beds. It renders advanced tertiary healthcare services with multi-super speciality and multi-organ transplant services.
Contacts:
S. Vasanth Kumar Philip
Sr. Manager – Public Relations
Global Hospitals & Health City
Ph: 9840064530
Ms. Sheetal Bajaj
Senior Business Development Manager
HALAL INDIA Direct: 9952041640
E-mail: sheetal@halalindia.co.in
Website: www.halalindia.org
source: http://www.TwoCircles.net / by Mumtaz Ahmed Falahi / June 01st, 2012
