15 May 2020 | 03:46am IST
Medical & Wellness Tourism may be the new opportunity
This is a sector that can change the face of Goa and medical tourism could be the future
Team Cafe
With the Department of Health
Services being compared to the NHS of the UK and other better-governed public
health systems like Cuba’s, it is high time the inherent strength of the health
infrastructure be leveraged and marketed better. Patients seeking medical
treatment abroad should not look far away from India, particularly Goa, as we
can promise quality care and a relaxing ambiance at an affordable cost.
The potential of wellness systems,
developed through centuries of wisdom of this ancient civilization would be
fully tapped. This is being done by positioning India as a centre of Ayurveda,
Yoga, Sidha, Naturopathy, etc. together with the spiritual philosophy that has
been integral to the Indian way of life.
The Covid19 situation has got most people wondering about
whether they are potential victims for the Coronavirus in case they have low
immunity. While social distancing is the best action to prevent contraction of
the virus, people and governments are realizing that a complete lockdown will
be severely detrimental to the economy and jobs and people’s lives.
Darryl D’Souza said, “A great
online resource for solutions that can be implemented in limited conditions
such as our present lockdown scenarios is The New Earth Summit’s website
www.thenewearthsummit.com which was India’s first integrative summit for solutions
to our problems in health, food, farming and environment that was conducted in
Goa last November.”
Dr Akhil Lawande of Lawande
Hospital, Margao, said, “Corona virus will be around for 1-2 years. Most of us
will get infected, many won’t even know. There will be few whom we will lose.
We need to accept this fact and move on. We cannot stay in lockdown forever. We
need to restart our livelihoods with proper precautions.”
Roy Tellis, MD of Wilson Smith
Recovery Wellness Services said, “Addiction to gambling, substances and alcohol
has been around since time immemorial. Our Mahabharata teaches us how the
Pandava kingdom was lost in a game of dice. Alcoholism is a primary,
progressive, chronic, illness with genetic predisposition, characterized by a
mental preoccupation and adverse physical reactions. Anyone can recover from
alcoholism with the correct tools. I returned to India from the USA in 2017, to
make a difference and specifically hope to do so in Goa, the land of my
forefathers.”
Gajanan Nagarsekar, founder of
Kallows said, “In this adverse time mental and physical health are utmost and
hence one should focus on the same. As an impact the health industry is
affected but the same also opens an opportunity to deliver on services and
products for the health sector, which now on could realise as a potential
investment opportunity across segments.“
Asha Arondekar of Tatva Spa said,
“Before lockdown for everyone life was busy, post that period Life is easy. All
of us have learnt self-awareness, self-care and self-love - people have a much
better sense of wellness now. Perhaps the wellness industry will bounce back in
a bigger way. Instead of small versions, perhaps bigger destination wellness
facilities like Ananda will evolve.”