Iam coming from my Uncle’s place. He is feeling better now. Turns out his treatment for Systematic Lupus Erythematosis worked out well. All he told me about the Hospital is its pristine state. The whole afternoon, mu uncle told me about how great India is and the places he had visited. “Did you go for treatment or tourism?” I ended up asking my uncle.

“I was paid for the whole thing with one trip to the hospital.” My uncle responded. He pulled out an envelope under his pillow and handed it to me. Medical Tourism! It was the fifth time I had about it and I decided to write an article on it. I was baffled by photos of my uncle in India living the dream. He had managed to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, Tso Moriri Lake and the very famous Ajanthra & Ellora curves. For a moment I felt jealousy. I had always wanted to visit Mumbai and Delhi but he had beaten me to the game, thanks to medical tourism.

The medical travel industry is an emerging market in Zimbabwe which for the time past was done out necessity. I guess you have heard stories of people travelling to South Africa for a medical procedure because of various reasons. Some have been a search for medical excellence whilst nowadays many are purely differences in costs and the opportunity to see the world whilst traveling for treatment.  She managed a trip to Mauritius, New Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra and back to Zimbabwe all within the total treatment bill had it been done locally.

I interviewed a lady who travelled for repeated tests by dermatologists and rheumatologists before finally undergoing treatment for a rare disease. She bragged about visiting three of the top must see tourist attractions in India. “I saw the mausoleum of Shar Jahan’s favourite wife, the Taj Mahal.” As she waited for other tests to be done, she went to Jaipur were she saw the City Palace, Fort Jaigarh and the Albert Hall Museum.

Then after her treatment, she spent a week in Gia, enjoying her beautiful beaches. What a way to get treatment. And lastly she went to see the Himalayas. Jealousy gripped me again then I went to work. I went to hospitals, medical travel agents, tourist boards, clinics, dentists and travel insurance underwriters. With the assistance of a friend, I used all that information to create a little manual to assist people who seek medical tourism on a personal level or people who would like to venture into medical tourism for business. This manual encompasses wide spectrum needs of a medical tourist and acts as a road map to a smooth successful treatment process and a healthy and happy life.

The Business of medical tourism

I have given you a brief background of what medical tourism is all about. Is there a business case or medical travel is merely a personal finance issue? Zimbabwe has a ready market of people who would require that service. My friend has managed to secure affiliate and partnership deals with Medical Institutions in India which are associated with the Harvard Medical School’s global arm, Harvard Medical International, USA.

We have identified medical tourist destination hospitals around the world on the basis of expertise and success rate for each procedure. I don’t know how my friend did it, but he has managed to create a database of patient treatment success rate from the beginning for over fifty international hospitals involved in medical tourism.

Medical tourism is an untapped opportunity in Zimbabwe presenting various opportunities to hospitals, medical travel agents, tourist boards, clinics, dentists and travel insurance underwriters. I was a travel Insurance underwriter and I can assure you that we wrecked in a lot of money through underwriting travel Insurance. I never seriously considered medical tourism before 2010, as I didn’t have pending surgeries I couldn’t afford, nor did I want cosmetic procedures which medical tourism agencies have made popular. Testing and prevention, though, opened up a world of combining world-class travel with world-class medicine.

“Due for a dental cleaning and checkup? Perhaps you want to run comprehensive blood work, which I recommend no less than every six months? Consider making a kick-ass trip out of it. That same exotic dream trip, something you might otherwise postpone forever because of expense, could end up as good as free.” Said Tim Ferris in one of his famous books The Four Hour Body. Perhaps the lure of travel is exactly the incentive you need to take a closer look at your health?

Cost of medical tourism

India has considerable huge cost saving medical tourism opportunities compared to other travel tourism destinations in America and Europe. My friend’s did a cost comparison for the past three years and the claims averaged a tenth of the prices compared to treatment in America. Could this be true? I thought so too and asked him to redo his calculations again. It really is that cheap.

Qualifications and Experience of Doctors Involved in travel tourism

My friend has a database of Hospitals in India furnished with the finest physicians and surgeons in India. Each of these Doctors has an auditable wealth of experience after performing thousands of surgeries with excellent outcomes. The Doctors are qualified from accredited medical schools. They are trained and have worked in some of the best centers in Europe, USA and the rest of the world.

Infrastructure for medical tourism

Besides checking in great hotels and being able to visit the greatest attractions in the world, All the hospital partners on the database we created have the following facilities and infrastructure.

• Advanced diagnostic and support infrastructure, high end MRI, 64 slice CT, neuro-navigation surgical systems, neuro physiology and comprehensive rehabilitation services, finest quality implants, prosthesis and consumables of international repute.
• Operation theaters built to international specifications
• Specialized physiotherapy and rehabilitation services
• Technologically advanced medical diagnostic and medical investigation equipment

I have personally prepared a medical tourism guide for individual as this business opportunity can be a solution to a lot of individual health challenges. A dental check and an optical surgery alone can afford you an opportunity to enjoy the Kerala backwaters on the Malaba Coast, one of the most popular tourist destinations in India.

As I sign off today, these are my last words. Close your eyes and start to think about the white  sand beaches you’ve fantasized about? Consider treating yourself to some relaxation on a beach, surfing and defraying the costs with a visit to a clinic or two. You could make a lot of money from it.

To your continued success