BENGALURU: HEALTH IS WEALTH, our health industry through Pharma exports and medical tourism is powering our sustainable progress to a 5 trillion economy and beyond. Our medical education needs rapid and massive expansion to stop talent and resource loss to other countries to which our future doctors migrate.
A surplus of medical and health-related training facilities can attract global talent and resources to India instead. Health, education, food-nutrition, telemedicine, and tele-education industries with sustainable medical tourism and green manufacturing of disposables, medical devices, and equipment would power India to become the ‘Provider to the world’ from the present ‘Pharmacy of the world’ and the biggest peace and prosperity promoting sustainable global economy.
INDIAN PHARMA AND JAN AUSHADHI KENDRAS: The Indian pharma industry’s manufacturing capabilities are estimated at $65 billion. China shut down many of our Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturers by dumping these APIs in the Indian market. Dependence on China affects both the quality and reliability of our drug supplies. India has to become self-sufficient again in producing basic chemicals, manufacturing agrochemicals and pharma chemical intermediates, and then natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic APIs. Jan Aushadhi Kendras went global as the first such dedicated outlet for Indian generic medicines at affordable prices was opened in Mauritius on July 17, 2024, jointly by Mr. Jaishankar, Indian External Affairs Minister, and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.
More such outlets worldwide would help our pharma exports and the global clientele for affordable medicines, nutritional supplements, vaccines, medical disposables, and devices. Quality and prices can be monitored and fake, substandard drugs and shady middlemen eliminated by such outlets, protecting Indian Pharma’s reputation.
Government agencies DGFT and the Department of Revenue are setting up e-commerce hubs to provide quick custom and security clearance integrated with efficient logistics to streamline online exports which will help boost pharma, medical disposables, and equipment export. Western regulators are questioning the quality of Indian pharma. Disinformation-defamation of our exports by competing multinationals, price cutting and dumping to shut our industries, intellectual property (IP) infringement legal battles, accusations of occupational safety and health regulation inadequacy, quota restrictions, discriminatory Rules of Origin, and currency exchange rate manipulation claims are various Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) being imposed on our exports.
MEDICAL TOURISM-HEAL IN INDIA: The tourism industry was crippled by the pandemic and is now facing a backlash in Europe because of overcrowding, inflation, shortages and littering. The large carbon footprint, pollution, and environmental damage highlight the unsustainability of mass-scale tourism. Medical tourism instead is an essential service and sustainable. India can provide high-quality health care at low costs to a major part of the world’s population that does not have access to it locally.
More than 2 million patients visit India each year from 78 countries. Many Indian hospitals have language translators for non-English speaking patients. India has been ranked 10th in the Medical Tourism Index (MTI) for 2020-21 out of 46 global destinations by the Medical Tourism Association. India’s medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$9 billion in 2022.