Medical tourism in India: the pros and cons

The opening up of the Indian Economy in 1991 has brought about tremendous changes in the political and economic environment. There has been an increase in cross border trade in services, including health services. Medical tourism has now grown into a multi billion-dollar industry in the world. India has also entered into the field of medical tourism and its market share is building up. An examination of the positive and negative implications of medical tourism in a developing country like India for equity, efficiency, quality and access to healthcare indicates that medical tourism has brought mixed benefits and that there is a clear role for policy measures to mitigate the adverse consequences and facilitate the gains.