Kolkata: Bangladeshi patients have started trickling back to some Kolkata hospitals after a lean period of five months despite tensions at the border, bringing a glimmer of hope for the medical tourism sector in the city that was badly hit. While the number is still less than half of what it was until Aug 2024, there has been a ‘surge’ which is the first since the outbreak of violence five months ago, said hospitals.
Enquiries and bookings for OPD and video consultations, too, have increased at some hospitals. “Until last Aug, we received around 120 OPD patients from Bangladesh a day and around 25 would be admitted. It dropped to almost zero in Oct-Nov and was around 20 in Dec. This month, patients seem to be trickling back and the daily OPD attendance has gone up to 60. Everything depends on the political situation and we are keeping fingers crossed,” said Peerless Hospital CEO Sudipta Mitra.
He added that while there were no travel restrictions, patients were scared to travel. “With things settling down a little, some have started returning, especially cancer and orthopaedic patients who need surgery or follow-up treatment,” said Mitra.
At Ruby General Hospital, the number of OPD patients from Bangladesh has increased from 10 a day in Dec to around 20 now. It was 50 until Aug, according to chief general manager – operations Subhashis Datta. “There has been a rise though it’s still very slow. We had around two-three admissions a week until last Aug which is now sporadic. This week we had two Bangladesh patients who underwent surgeries after several barren weeks,” added Datta.
A section of Bangladesh patients has started travelling to Southeast Asian countries for treatment, said some hospital sources in Kolkata. But since the cost of treatment is significantly higher in countries like Thailand, Malaysia, or Singapore, a vast majority of Bangladesh patients remain dependent on Kolkata hospitals.
BP Poddar Hospital has observed a noticeable surge in the number of patients seeking OPD appointments. While patient inquiries from Bangladesh were almost negligible last month, it has started rising. “We are providing telephonic guidance to some IVF and cardiac medicine patients who are already under our care but were unable to visit us in recent months,” said Supriyo Chakrabarty, group advisor of BP Poddar.
At Manipal Hospitals, things have started improving even as the India Visa Assistance Centre has finally started issuing medical visas, according to regional COO (East) Ayanabh Debgupta. “Things have started showing signs of improvement now. India Visa Assistance Centre has finally started issuing medical visas and the numbers are almost about 1,200 – 1,300 in the last few days after necessary scrutiny. We have started receiving queries for medical visas daily and 120-130 invitation letters are being issued per day,” added Debgupta. Across its five units, Manipal received 2,200 Bangla patients a day until last Aug.
The rise in patients is not yet significant but holds out hopes of a revival, according to Indian Chamber of Commerce healthcare committee chairperson Prashant Sharma. “India witnessed a 48% increase in medical tourists from Bangladesh in 2023 compared to 2022. The Bangladesh population is heavily dependent on the Indian healthcare sector. The disruptions over the last five months have taken a heavy toll and medical travel has taken a big hit. Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia attract a lot of medical tourists from Bangladesh and a chunk of patients have been moving to these countries instead of Kolkata,” said Sharma, also the MD of Charnock Hospital.
At RN Tagore Hospital, which would receive 8,000 OPD patients from Bangladesh a month until last Aug, there has not been an increase, though. It still received around 80 outpatients per day last month. “There has been a further 5% dip this month,” said COO R Venkatesh.
