Steps will be taken to enhance infrastructure and facilities in medical college hospitals
(Left to Right) Director of JIPMER T.S. Ravikumar, past president of AAEMI Anita Bhavnani, the current President, Pankaj Arora, and Puducherry Tourism Minister P. Rajavelu address the media at the Minister’s office in Puducherry on Monday —Photo: G. Krishnaswamy / The Hindu
Puducherry Tourism Minister P. Rajavelu said the government would form an expert committee to explore the possibilities of promoting medical tourism.
The Minister, who held an important meeting with Dr. Pankaj Arora, President of the American Academy for Emergency Medicine in India (AAEMI), and Dr. T.S. Ravikumar, Director, JIPMER, told The-Hindu on Monday that Puducherry had excellent potential to promote medical tourism, which was gaining momentum in some cities in South India.
There were nine medical colleges in Puducherry, which included the renowned JIPMER, the first medical educational institute in Puducherry. No other town in South India has such a large a number of medical colleges and other allied institutes. It was a blessing not only to students but also patients, including from foreign countries. Hence, it has been decided to set up a committee with line departments so as to transform Puducherry as a destination for medical tourism , he said Mr. Rajavelu said a conference would be convened soon under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N. Rangasamy to carry forward the agenda for medical tourism. With the available infrastructure and treatment facilities, Puducherry could garner global attention and become the foremost choice for patients from abroad.
Infrastructure development necessary
Since treatment was expensive in countries such as England, USA and others, there was a possibility to attract patients from European countries also. Fine tuning the infrastructure was the need of the hour. Steps would be taken to enhance infrastructure and facilities in medical college hospitals so as to fulfil the expectation of patients from abroad also.
Hospitals such as JIPMER and PIMS have been developed to the level of attracting patients from abroad. This was an indication that Puducherry could be developed as a hub of medical tourism.
However, it was important for the hospitals to get international accreditation to attract patients not only from western countries but also from neighbouring ones.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Puducherry, March 05th, 2013
