5 ms·

Over 5L med travellers visit India

13 points by niyazpk 16y ago

jgrahamc 16y ago
5L means 5 Lakh. The Indian system of counting large numbers is distinct from that familiar to most people in the West with thousands, millions, etc. In India you'll see lakh (100,000) and crore (10,000,000) used everywhere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system
- maheshs 16y ago
  5L = .5 million
- statictype 16y ago
  Also, after the first comma, the rest go after 2 digits. I've been in India for 10 years and I'm still tripped by that. A lakh is 1,00,000 A crore is 1,00,00,000
AHarbs 16y ago
interesting. is it time to develop efficient medical apps?
- borisk 16y ago
  There were many medical apps developed back in the 80s, but ... doctors&co. don't wont to loose their lifestyle to some stupid computers.
nimrody 16y ago
Unfortunately, the article fails to list the origin of these travelers. I suspect most are from the developing countries in the area. [One exception may be the "baby production industry". India provides inexpensive surrogacy services. Some call this an "industry"...]
- borisk 16y ago
  Most patients are from US and West Europe.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    Where did you get that from?
- kranner 16y ago
  Don't forget expat Indians from the west, who know they can save money on everything from dentures to clothes on the next trip home.
blrgeek 16y ago
Assembly line eye surgeries in India - http://96.0.107.6/?q=node/view/1829 http://96.0.107.6/?q=node/view/1829 I've read elsewhere that many medical students intern at Aravind Eye hospital simply because they can see and treat more cases of a rare disease in one week than they could in years in the developing world. India has the potential to become the Medical tourist capital of the world. And as with everything else here, there are hospitals which treat the ultra-wealthy at international standard with the latest technology, and absolute hell-holes catering to the poorest destitutes. They may even be neighbours. The entire system is very screwed up by the pathetically low number of doctors (per capita) we produce every year on the one hand, the vanishingly small number of openings for MDs, and the ridiculously small pay for a doctor without an MD degree. A friend of mine has been trying without success for 4 years to get an MD position. Medical tourists are good and bad. Good because of the forex inflow. Bad because they take away meager domestic capacity.
- kranner 16y ago
  For anyone confused about doctors without MD degrees, note that in India the first medical degree is the MBBS, equivalent to the US 'MD'. The Indian 'MD' is a hospital-based postgraduate degree. You can make more in a call centre than as a doctor who is 'just MBBS'.
gamble 16y ago
How many medical tourists are people with no connection to the host country purely there to find cheap care? My impression is that medical tourism is more talked about in America than practiced. The subtext to healthcare discussions in the US always seems to be that no matter how bad things are in America, healthcare elsewhere must be a disaster. Also, Americans either have health insurance or they tend not to be in a position to pay at all, even if the procedure is significantly less expensive than at home.

13 points by niyazpk 16y ago

5L means 5 Lakh. The Indian system of counting large numbers is distinct from that familiar to most people in the West with thousands, millions, etc. In India you'll see lakh (100,000) and crore (10,000,000) used everywhere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system

maheshs 16y ago
5L = .5 million
statictype 16y ago
Also, after the first comma, the rest go after 2 digits. I've been in India for 10 years and I'm still tripped by that. A lakh is 1,00,000 A crore is 1,00,00,000

AHarbs 16y ago

interesting. is it time to develop efficient medical apps?

borisk 16y ago
There were many medical apps developed back in the 80s, but ... doctors&co. don't wont to loose their lifestyle to some stupid computers.

nimrody 16y ago

Unfortunately, the article fails to list the origin of these travelers. I suspect most are from the developing countries in the area. [One exception may be the "baby production industry". India provides inexpensive surrogacy services. Some call this an "industry"...]

borisk 16y ago
Most patients are from US and West Europe.
- hugh3 16y ago
  Where did you get that from?
kranner 16y ago
Don't forget expat Indians from the west, who know they can save money on everything from dentures to clothes on the next trip home.

blrgeek 16y ago

Assembly line eye surgeries in India - http://96.0.107.6/?q=node/view/1829 http://96.0.107.6/?q=node/view/1829 I've read elsewhere that many medical students intern at Aravind Eye hospital simply because they can see and treat more cases of a rare disease in one week than they could in years in the developing world. India has the potential to become the Medical tourist capital of the world. And as with everything else here, there are hospitals which treat the ultra-wealthy at international standard with the latest technology, and absolute hell-holes catering to the poorest destitutes. They may even be neighbours. The entire system is very screwed up by the pathetically low number of doctors (per capita) we produce every year on the one hand, the vanishingly small number of openings for MDs, and the ridiculously small pay for a doctor without an MD degree. A friend of mine has been trying without success for 4 years to get an MD position. Medical tourists are good and bad. Good because of the forex inflow. Bad because they take away meager domestic capacity.

kranner 16y ago
For anyone confused about doctors without MD degrees, note that in India the first medical degree is the MBBS, equivalent to the US 'MD'. The Indian 'MD' is a hospital-based postgraduate degree. You can make more in a call centre than as a doctor who is 'just MBBS'.

gamble 16y ago

How many medical tourists are people with no connection to the host country purely there to find cheap care? My impression is that medical tourism is more talked about in America than practiced. The subtext to healthcare discussions in the US always seems to be that no matter how bad things are in America, healthcare elsewhere must be a disaster. Also, Americans either have health insurance or they tend not to be in a position to pay at all, even if the procedure is significantly less expensive than at home.