AMN /
Government of India has constituted a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to provide a dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Medical Tourism in the country.
This also include Wellness Tourism and Yoga, Ayurveda Tourism and any other format of Indian system of medicine covered by Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).
This Board works as an umbrella organization that governs and promotes this segment of tourism in an organized manner. It has representatives from AYUSH, Quality Council of India, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH).
Three Sub-Committees have been setup to look into the issues relating to visa, accreditation and allied services and marketing & promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism.
Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Dr. Mahesh Sharma told Lok Sabha today.
The Government of India has Medical Visa and Medical Attendant Visa as separate categories of Visa to facilitate entry of medical tourists in India. The foreign tourists who visited India for medical purpose during 2012, 2013 and 2014* were 171021, 236898 and 184298, respectively (*Data for the year 2014 is of visa type by Nationality. Earlier data is of Nationality-wise FTAs by purpose of visit based on the information recorded in disembarkation card).