India Oursourcing at a New Level

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I tghouhgt his was interesting, what do you htink?

"Tourists have started combining holidays with health care, and that's because a growing number of countries are offering first-rate medical care at Third-World prices. Many of these medical tourists can't afford health care at home. There were 40 million uninsured Americans due to the high cost of insurance emanating from medical malpractice lawsuits. Insurance also limits its coverage to certain medical conditions eliminating the some badly needed operations like hip resurfacing which has not been okayed in the US as opposed to hip replacement.

International students at American Universities have also learnt a habit of going for vacation cum treatment trips home some of which cost less than a tooth extraction in American. A student would go home on vacation, have a treatment for a fraction of the money he would spend on the same treatment in America saving for an air ticket. These students go back home to countries like India, Asia and even African countries like Uganda for dental services and a good visit home.

According to 60 Minutes, an American TV show, Thailand has taken this opportunity a notch higher by admitting about 350,000 foreign patients in its state of the art Bumrungrad Hospital. The place is luxurious and has western-trained doctors charging unbelievably low medical fees for complicated operations and first class care. This is all possible for cheap because everything is relatively very cheap the labor and other costs are very low. These foreign countries are offering vacation – cum treatment and the hospitals have been built to standards of hotels. A tourist is really on vacation and adds on treatment as a bonus (...)"

http://www.ugandanamerican.com:8080/uganda...D4-3A25200EFA05

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I'm not sure the term 'outsourcing' is appropriate here. India has had world-class medical facilities for quite some time. It is in recent years that the rest of the world has begun to take notice. The demand for these services is on the rise and the Indian marketplace is doing its best to meet the challenge.

So yes, in the sense that the Western consumer can now find an alternative source for the same services, this can be considered outsourcing. However, in the popular media the term refers to services being shifted out of this country and being transplanted overseas. That is not what is happening here.

[Satisfaction 1]

The term "outscourcing" is not exact, I agree. The article's only aim was to point at a new trend of people from industrialized countries (or some people in this regard) travelling abroad to obtain affordable healthcare / medical treatment. I thought it was something somewhat interesting.

I hear Indian pharmaceutical companies are expanding, manufacturing generic drugs at a cheaper price than giants such as Roche or Glaxo and sellinng them to the developping world (essentially).

Actually, here are the latest news I found on the web:

"NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (IPS) - If the Indian Parliament ratifies a decree on patents that seeks to bring India's massive generic drugs industry in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, it will hurt poor patients - especially those suffering from HIV/AIDS -- not only in this country but also globally, say activists and experts.

Millions of Indians will not be able to afford the 99 percent increase in the cost of the medicines. Further, 5.1 million Indians, 38 percent of them being women, are suffering from HIV/AIDS, totaling up to approximately 12 percent of the HIV- positive people in the world.

The argument for a stronger patent regime for pharmaceutical companies - in accordance with WTO requirements -- is made on the basis of the heavy capital investment costs for research and development that goes into the creation of a new drug.

But the Washington-based Global Campaign Against Indian Patents Amendment (GCAIPA) argues otherwise."

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=27563

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Bumrungrad Hospital in Thailand is a top notch hospital. At super discounted prices. I believe intensive care is only US$100 per day.