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â??India:  Medical Tourism Destination 2009â?, to be held in Toronto, from November 20th to  22nd 2009, at the prestigious Metro Toronto Convention Centre will showcase the best of Indian healthcare in Canada. The speakers at the IMTD Conference are leading lights from Indian Hospitals, Wellness services providers, Government and medical tourism facilitators. The phenomenon now popularly known as Medical Tourism is often cited as the next big opportunity for India after the IT outsourcing to earn billions of dollars in forex earnings and create jobs in the healthcare sector. So far only a select group of Indian hospitals have been making valiant attempts to market their services in international arena. More than a million overseas patients already treated at top Indian corporate hospitals like Apollo, Fortis, Wockhardt, Max, Manipal and many others have already proved to the world that the clinical quality, technology and cost proposition offered by India is unmatched. The capacity in super specialty segment Indian hospitals is expanding fast and there is no waiting period for local or overseas patients. Indian Medical Travel Association, the Embassy of India in Canada, Ministry of Tourism and Surgical Tourism, Canada  have joined hands to hold this  first ever specialized trade show in Canada to promote Medical Value Travel to India. Canada as a market for promoting medical tourism to India holds great potential. It has socialised system of healthcare delivery that is under  strain and waiting lists are growing. The patients who do not wish to wait and are generally affluent have started to explore overseas treatment options. A surgical wait list of large 850,000 Canadians , points towards the need for this conference. Canadians tired of waiting are encouraged to visit and learn about their multitude of options beyond the realms of 100% public health insurance.   The sponsors and exhibitors will get the opportunity to meet Canadians  looking for medical and surgical services outside Canada, Provincial Health Authorities, Insurance companies, travel and tour operators, legal entities, medical information management companies, hospital administrators and medical tourism facilitators. There is a large population of Indian origin in Canada dominated by North Indians, who are also likely to visit this trade show and therefore IMTD 2009, a unique opportunity for Indian Healthcare providers and medical tourism stakeholders to raise the level of awareness about what India has to offer. As part of the Expo a series of workshops would held on 20th November, 2009 where a number of pioneers and leaders from the Indian Healthcare sector would speak and also participate in a round table with  Consulate General of India in Toronto, and  senior officials from the Ministry of Health, Ontario. About Indian Medical Travel Association. www. indianmedicaltravelassociation. com A non profit body aimed at preparing India for facing the challenges of global competition in Medical Tourism space and actualise the tremendous opportunity for India to become a leading global healthcare destination. IMTA’s membership has a diverse base of India’s leading JCI, NABH accredited hospitals, Indian System of Medicine and Wellness service providers, travel industry, Insurance, Assistance and Medical Tourism facilitation companies.

Leading Indian Hospitals, Healthcare providers (both Modern Medicine and Traditional Indian Medicine), Travel and Medical Tourism Industry providers have come together to form an industry association – Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) that aims to work together to make India the leading global healthcare destination. The phenomenon now popularly known as Medical Tourism is often cited as the next big opportunity for India after the IT outsourcing to earn billions of dollars in forex earnings and create jobs in the healthcare sector. So far only a select group of Indian hospitals have been making valiant attempts to market their services in international arena. More than a million overseas patients already treated at top Indian corporate hospitals like Apollo, Fortis, Wockhardt, Max, Manipal and many others have already proved to the world that the clinical quality, technology and cost proposition offered by India is unmatched. The capacity in super specialty segment Indian hospitals is expanding fast and there is no waiting period for local or overseas patients. CII Mc’Kinsey study first reported on medical tourism as the billion dollar opportunity for India way back in 2002 and the steady growth in overseas patient arrivals has validated the potential. With a large number of new private super specialty hospitals and even integrated health cities coming up in India’s top ten cities, India has the potential to become the global leader in the Medical Travel/ Outsourcing industry. Indian doctors and professionals are world renowned for their skills and the country has abundance of all the inputs like talented young manpower, local high quality manufacturing base for pharmaceuticals, technology hardware and software that makes the Indian costs for high end surgical procedures so attractive. The challenge really is on the non medical side, primarily on the marketing front and also to create infrastructure and services to support the growth of medical tourism. Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) – a non profit body and a unified voice of the Indian healthcare (modern medicine as well as traditional Indian medicine) and travel industry is aimed at preparing India for facing the challenges of global competition and actualise the tremendous opportunity for India to become a leading global healthcare destination. Modern medicine as well as India’s 5000 year old traditional therapies like Ayurveda, Siddha and Yoga can offer to the world an unbeatable healing package. “IMTA would strive to help its members reach out in a cost effective manner to millions of our potential global consumers who reside on the other side of the globe in a different time and cultural zone and make them aware of the tremendous value that Indian healthcare offers. The fact is that prior to choosing a hospital, the international patients first decide on the country or the destination. Therefore we all must join hands to aggressively promote INDIA as a preferred global healthcare destination,” Says Pradeep Thukral, Executive Director, Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) The Government of India and its various arms are actively supporting the growth of medical tourism to India. In a message to IMTA, the Union Tourism Minister, Kumar Shailaja conveyed “This is indeed a commendable initiative and we all know the tremendous opportunity  that Medical Tourism presents for India. On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism, I would like to provide all possible support this industry initiative  and would like to wish IMTA and its members great success in their efforts. Two years ago the Government of India introduced a special category of Visa called M Visa for foreigners desirous of coming to India for medical treatment. India’s Ministry of Tourism has achieved phenomenal success in last five years with its much acclaimed “Incredible India “campaign that has multiplied the arrival of foreign tourists to India. The current year 2009 is being promoted by Indian Ministry of Tourism as “Visit India’” year and the ministry is keen to promote Medical Tourism. It has recently notified the Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme to eligible Medical Tourism players which enables them to get financial support for participation in overseas promotional events.

An impressive array of  speakers at the IMTD Conference led by Dr Narottam Puri, President â??Medical Strategy & Quality, Fortis Escorts Hospitals Group,  Mark Fam from Deloitte Centre of health Solutions, Canada ,   Ms. Ann Kaplan, President & CEO, Medicard Finance, Dr Vasanthi  Srinivasan, Director, Health System Planning & Research, Ontario Ministry of Health and Mr Pradeep Thukral, Executive Director, Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) impressed the audience and  showcased the strengths of  Indian healthcare in Canada. Mrs Preeti Saran, Consulate General of India, Toronto who inaugurated the event on 20th November, 2009 also utilised  the presence of Indian delegates to host  a special business networking breakfast meeting a day before the event, which was attended by more than 100 Canadian business and healthcare leaders, who deliberated on â??â??Developing synergies between India and Canada in the Healthcare sectorâ? The major highlight of the events were an experience sharing session by Canadian patients who were recently treated at  Indian hospitals and a Roundtable Meeting at the Ontario Provincial Health Authority Office where leaders from the Canadian and Indian Healthcare industry discussed possibilities of cooperation in areas as diverse as telemedicine and  public health. The Ontario Health Authority also evinced interest in the excellent quality and cost  of healthcare delivery by leading Indian hospitals and announced plans to send a senior delegation to visit hospitals in India and look at how strengths of Indian healthcare can be utilised for bringing down the wait lists. Indian Medical Travel Association, the Embassy of India in Canada, Ministry of Tourism and Surgical Tourism, Canada  joined hands to hold this  first ever specialized trade show in Canada to promote Medical Value Travel to India. Major exhibitors and presenters at the IMTD 2009  from India were Fortis Healthcare, Max Hospitals, Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre, Chennai, Lakeshore Hospital and KIMS from Kerala, Madras Joint Replacement Centre from Chennai, Soukya Wellness Centre, Bangalore, and  Mann Medicity from Jalandar. The Indian Ministry of Tourism which has launched a highly successful â??Incredible Indiaâ? campaign to promote India, has approved participation in IMTD 2009 by JCI and NABH accredited Indian hospitals and other eligible medical travel facilitators under its MDA â?? Market development Assistance Scheme. Therefore  the participating hospitals were able to get financial support for a major part of  the promotional expenses under the MDA scheme from the Ministry of Tourism. According to Mr Pradeep Thukral. Executive Director, Indian Medical Travel Association, â??Canada as a market for promoting medical tourism to India holds great potential. It has socialised system of healthcare delivery that is under  strain and waiting lists are growing.  A  large surgical wait list of almost  850,000 Canadians , pointed towards the need for this conference. Canadians tired of waiting are now open to visit and learn about their multitude of options beyond the realms of  the public health system.   IMTD therefore attracted massive local media interest in Canada with leading channels like CBC, Toronto Star and The Epoch Times covering the event. â?? About Indian Medical Travel Association. www. indianmedicaltravelassociation. com A non profit body aimed at preparing India for facing the challenges of global competition in Medical Tourism space and actualise the tremendous opportunity for India to become a leading global healthcare destination. IMTA’s membership has a diverse base of India’s leading JCI, NABH accredited hospitals, Indian System of Medicine and Wellness service providers, travel industry, Insurance, Assistance and Medical Tourism facilitation companies.