Destination Goa For a Healthy You
Health tourism has a great scope in Goa writes DOMNICK ISIDORE MENDIS
Travellers have always preferred Goa as a famous destination for fun and relaxation. But of late another type of tourists are making a beeline to Goa. These international tourists are coming to get treated in the State’s super specialty health centres. Western Europeans and North Americans along with NRIs are coming in large numbers to get cured for a myriad of health problems ranging from cataract to obesity.
The hi- tech and well equipped super specialty hospitals and modern medical clinics with their comparatively low cost treatment and high calibre doctors, is fast attracting hordes of foreigners who are coming to Goa to get themselves treated.
Dr Oscar Rebello, noted medical practitioner and former Convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) opines, “Goa can really do very well in certain non-emergency areas like dental, cosmetology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, etc. For instance in many of the Western countries the waiting period for cataract is over a year. Goa can establish its important position on the world health tourism map.”
Goa getting connected directly with international airlines is also helping to get foreign tourists all 365 days of the year. Until recently, these special tourists came in the tourist season i.e. from October to April. But with the commencement of foreign airlines like Air Arabia, Qatar Airways this segment of travellers are now coming round the year.
“Tourists from the West and NRIs from UK and USA are coming to Goa mainly due to two factors : 1) reasonable cost of surgery and 2) the availability of the best qualified doctors . For example the cost of cosmetic surgery is one-fifth of that in the UK and one-tenth of that in US. The cost of the popular cosmetic surgeries at Apollo Victor is : bariatrics (weight loss)Rs 1.5 lakh, facelift ( removal of wrinkles) Rs 61,500, Liposuction ( fat removal) Rs 82,000, ” reveals Varun Albuquerque of Alcon Victor Group which owns Apollo Victor Hospital, Margao and Devaaya at Divar .
Dr Hubert Gomes who has been running one of the most popular dental clinics in Margao since 1984, concurs. “My prices are ten times cheaper than that prevalent in the West .The cost for dental implant and Metal Free Ceramic Veneers / Crowns ranges between 14,000-25,000 and Rs 6000 (per crown) respectively. ” Every year Dr Gomes treats around 2500 international tourists and NRIs.
Eye treatment is another area where the goose is laying golden eggs for health tourism. Foreign tourists from western countries are visiting Goan ophthalmologists for cataract surgery, retina, refractive error, Glaucoma etc., says Dr. Chandrakant Shetye who runs the popular Vision Care Super Speciality Eye Hospital-Mapusa, adding “the cost of surgery or treatment compared to that in the UK and USA is only half in our hospital in Goa. The cost of cataract surgery per eye ranges from Rs. 7000 to Rs. 49000 which depending on the type of lens package the patient chooses. Similarly, Retinal Surgery ranges from Rs. 25000 – to Rs. 40000 and Retinal Laser treatment costs depends on the number of laser sittings. Our hospital gets ten-15 foreign patients a year for surgical treatment and one or two foreign patients for OPD per day during tourist season.”
Apart from allopathy, tourists are also frequenting Goa for non-allopathic treatment. For instance Devaaya at Divar is the Ayurveda and Nature Cure Centre which offers extensive facilities for providing Ayurvedic Panchakarma and Wellness treatment. It combines Ayurvedic treatments with Yoga, Meditation, Music, Lifestyle correction, Diet Planning and medicines to achieve a healthy body, mind and spirit. Tourists from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and NRIs from UK and USA frequent Devaaya.
Health tourism has a great scope in Goa, and on January 26 2010, the foundation stone for the proposed Rs 120 crore EIH Goa Super Speciality Hospital at Bambolim was laid by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat . All this points to the happening of good times for this new variety of tourism.
Experts believe that Goa has a great potential for health tourism. “The climate and environment existing in Goa is very conducive post surgery, especially during convalescence period. The average age of Western Europeans and North Americans visiting Goa is more than 55. Similarly, the State receives more than 40 per cent of repeat tourists. All this indicates to a great potentiality for health tourism in Goa,” states Ralph de Souza president, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa- (TTAG).
But ground realities are different. On its own the State government is not doing much to attract these new tourists. Rather, it will not be wrong to say that the government is neglecting this new kind of tourism.
Post surgery, accommodation needs must be provided in the vicinity of the hospitals . The example of Health villages in Malaysia, Thailand etc., can be followed. These health villages offer accommodation, restaurants and even provide facilities of interpreters and translators. They come very handy in a foreign country and people accompanying patients feel more relaxed and at ease. The infrastructure would have to include catering to the basic needs of the people accompanying the patient in terms of stay, food, hygiene and to an extent overcoming the language barrier.
Places like Divar, Guirim etc., could be the best abode for recuperation. “The government should promote health villages by transferring land at subsidized rates and ensure continuous supply of power.” opines Albuquerque.
A large number of foreign travellers who come to Goa are mostly recommended by physicians of their own countries. Regular fairs and shows should be held in the Western countries to popularize this brand of tourism. There is also a dire need to ensure that quality aspect of health tourism is maintained, because of late, many dubious dental clinics have mushroomed in the coastal belt of the State. Medical experts believe that along the lines of tourist police there needs to be a body, where patients’ grievances can be redressed if they have not received proper and correct treatment. This would go a long way to prevent the tarnishing of the image of the State.
The confidence of International tourists can also be gained by not overcharging them. Be it local or foreigner, both should be charged the same for the treatment availed. Dr Gomes’ clinic displays the price list both on its website and its office. “A forum to check the quality aspect in dentistry or any health aspect is vital to eradicate people with dubious credentials,” feels Dr Gomes.
In the same way, the garbage lying strewn all over the State is today an eyesore not only to locals but even tourists. “Garbage is the main challenge and it will affect the growth of this budding industry. The government is doing nothing to solve this menace because there is not a single waste processing plant,” rues de Souza
Instead of inviting semi clad or scantly dressed or frugal or rogue tourists from Russia, the State government will do a great favour by taking up the initiative and harnessing the huge foreign exchange earning potential of this sunrise segment . Destination Goa should be the credo of marketing Goa to overseas patients especially in the Western Europe, North America and the Gulf.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
++++++++++++
Roving Eyes
Campus Rumpus
By Smitha Bhandare Kamat
At the close of every academic year, the ritual of examination is preordained, and with it the custom of supervision. Before we proceed with the task of supervision, all the supervisors, seniors as well as the juniors have to go through the rigorous ceremony of being acclaimed as a supervisor, which involves the never-ending list of dos and don’ts of being a righteous supervisor, the pledge to be unprejudiced in the task and doing a fair dealing to the mission bestowed, come what may, that could be dire threats, phone calls from stalwarts or plain emotional blackmail. All the same, having fulfilled the sacred norm, the newly ordained lot then charge to the examination hall like sniffer dogs on the trail of offenders at the crime scene. Once in the hall, the supervisors mount the dais and perch themselves on their seats like vultures waiting patiently for their prey. In a second, they transform into hyenas and pace up and down the hall, silently giggling at the fate in wait. Occasionally, they also roar like the lion to remind the class and more so the self about who is the boss. But, this does not suffice. In spite of all the odds, the clan of copycats flourish and multiply at the speed of light. And so the young bubbly lot don’t give in easy. Trust these teenagers to come up with bright and unusual ideas to hoodwink the teacher. With changing times, modern technology a la Munnabhai MBBS, have aided these community. Cordless assistance may sound too abstract and unpractical to the local lot, who generally prefer concrete micro mini or rather nano notes and hide the same in not so nano places. Well, in order to ensure that everyone is under the much required scanner, mega zoom lens is a primary requisite, to pierce through all opaque hurdles to detect non permissible print material. Fortunately, the good old time tested methodology of the ‘roving eyes’ comes to the rescue, roving all the nooks and corner, curves and contours, and in the process not forgetting the right spot -which normally happens to be just under the very answer sheet that the dude is answering. Well, it takes a trained eye and a strong animal instinct to detect the crime, at the right time, at the right place coupled with the right evidence. Frankly, the hide and seek games that take place in the hall surpasses the thrill experienced by watching IP league or the Olympic. Here the adrenaline of both, teacher and student jump at dangerous levels that many a case faint at unexpected moments. Moreso in case of the latter. Normally, the swooning spell is followed by a weeping break and as the melodrama unfolds, seldom do we catch a wrongdoer. You see, it also involves the fine art of using one’s discretion in identifying cognizable and non- cognizable offence in the field of copying, and in doing so the alleged culprit wriggles out. If not, there are humanitarian ground that he can appeal and if nothing at all works the dammed fellow can be plain lucky. Well, there just seems to be too many loopholes in the system. But, these very loopholes, compels the teacher and taught to be creative, innovative and inventive. One in perpetrating the crime, and the other in spotting the same. And so year in and year out the soap opera continues…faces may change, but the grit and guts in this area of operation is constant. Wonder why history does not repeat in this particular line of work? nobody seems to be learning much from the past. Except for the fact that, survival of the fittest, and survival of the freshest is in vogue.
+++++++++
