New Delhi Virus

For quite some time, health care sector in India has witnessed an enormous growth in infrastructure. The private sector, which was very modest in the early stages, has now become a flourishing industry equipped with the most modern state-of-the-art technology at its disposal. It is estimated that 75-80 per cent of health care services and investment in India are now private sector.  This means that a treatment that would cost Rs X would not cost 75-80% more. 

The country can now boast of a number of corporate hospitals. India is a source market for professionals in the medical field for most of the renowned hospitals around the world. The privatization of the medical sector has brought with it five-star facilities and world-class treatments. All business travelers, who would earlier check into the Taj’s and Leela’s  can now consider getting admitted to these hospitals. The level of comfort is the same plus its cheaper than the cost of the Taj’s and Leela’s. Nursing care is an added benefit.

There has been limited growth in the voluntary sector too; however the same cannot be said of the public sector. The physical infrastructure in public sector is woefully inadequate to meet today’s healthcare demands, much less tomorrow’s. Store rooms and toilets of the private hospitals have better infrastructure compared to our Primary health centres (PHCs). 

With a few exceptions, such as the All India Institute of Medical Studies (AIIMS), public health facilities are inefficient, inadequately managed and staffed, and have poorly maintained medical equipment. The ones which are staffed do not hold a high promise of their presence. This can surely fuel in tourism, for people interested in looking at 3^rd world medical infrastructure dating back to 19^th century.

The principal responsibility for public health funding lies with the state governments, which provide about 80% of public funding. The central government contributes another 15%, mostly through national health programs. I am sure, everyone will agree that government funding and its utilization is always subject to interesting stories. So, I will not dwell much into this.

The number of public health facilities also is inadequate. For instance, India needs 74,150 community health centers per million population but has less than half that number. In addition, at least 11 Indian states do not have laboratories for testing drugs, and more than half of existing laboratories are not properly equipped or staffed. The attitude and response of the staff including that of the doctors is best defined as callous. Clearly, not the set up that can be showcased to the world.

But, we have other set ups to showcase.  India offers at its own doorstep, a range of world quality hospitals and treatments at a fraction of world costs with comparable success rates and service levels directly in proportion to the high value system and natural caring that comes with its millennia heritage. 

Medical Tourism India (Health Tourism India) is a developing concept whereby people from world over visit India for their medical and relaxation needs. Most common treatments are heart surgery, knee transplant and other orthopedic surgeries, cosmetic surgery and dental care.

Indian hospitals are becoming known internationally for standards of health care delivery, comparable to the best in the world. India has the technology and the skilled super specialists coupled with sound infrastructure and professional management, nurses and paramedical staff to take on international competition. 

An added plus has been that India has one of the largest pharmaceutical industries in the world. It is self sufficient in drug production and exports drugs to more than 180 countries.

The flow of revenue via medical tourism was fuelling more growth. This cash flow was eating up revenue of the advanced countries healthcare system. There was bound to be a reaction. It’s commonly said “Everything is fair in love and war”. If there is something apart from women that can cause wars that’s money. 

An international team of scientists has discovered a new superbug in many people who have recently been in India, and they say there are virtually no drugs to treat it.

In a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, the researchers reported a new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1, which they said makes bacteria resistant to nearly all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapenems. Of all the names in the world, they had to name it after New Delhi. They could have called it, Near Death metallo-beta-lactamase or Doomsday Virus or Armageddon Virus or Rambo virus. They could have even called it Osama Virus but they preferred to call it New Delhi Virus.

Lead researcher Timothy Walsh, from Britain’s Cardiff University, was quoted by Reuters as saying that with more and more foreigners traveling to countries like India for medical treatment and cosmetic surgery, he feared the new super bug could soon spread across the world.

This virus is bound to infect the health care infrastructure in India more than the any human being. This is bound to spread fast and infect all healthcare investments. It will purge out all foreign patients and it will stop inflow of dollars, making hospitals Vitamin M deficient.

I would be more interested to wait and watch if the treatment cost to common man would dip, following any effect to the medical tourism industry.

This is also a good opportunity for the private sector to open up a percentage of service and profit to the poor and needy. Whether this will happen? We need to wait and watch..