Afghan medical tourists divert from Pakistan to India

Pakistan’s medical tourism sector has been losing clients from Afghanistan, as they are moving to India for treatment. It was acknowledged by the Ministry of Commerce in a written reply to a question from minority lawmaker Mahesh Kumar Malani regarding reasons for the decline in exports to Afghanistan over the past four years.

The reason for the shift is reported to be due to the border management policy of Pakistan, increasing difficulties faced by Afghanis in getting Pakistani visa, compulsory police reports and security clearances and unnecessary security checks at border crossing point.

Another bunch of factors listed by Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce behind diversion of medical tourists from Pakistan to India was increasing medical costs and difficulties faced by Afghan nationals in getting doctor’s appointments and even accommodations in Pakistan.

Until 2016, Pakistan used to be the top medical tourism destination for Afghan nationals due to the favourite aspects like common language, culture and lesser treatment costs.

But post 2016, the Afghan medical tourist arrival has got diverted to North India and even to Punjab for comparatively cost-effective treatment facilities and easy availability of specialist doctors.

“New Delhi, Gurugram and Noida continue to be the preferred cities for Afghan nationals. A number of them have also started coming to Punjab. We have performed heart surgery on a couple of such Afghani patients,” said Charanjit Singh Pruthi, the managing director of the Jalandhar-based BBC HeartCare and Capitol Hospital.

Dr Kuldip Singh, a Ludhiana-based laparoscopic surgeon, said that major portion of Afghan patients come to New Delhi, a number of kidney, heart and knee-replacement patients have started coming to Ludhiana.

Earlier, Afghans landing at New Delhi’s IGI Airport for treatment were directed to some of the known hospitals, who are already servicing in the sector; however, now Afghanis are more aware about availability of cheap medical facilities in other parts of North India as the development of information technology and communication facilities in Afghanistan.

Amarjit Singh, India’s Protector General of Immigrants based in New Delhi, who has earlier been posted as the Consul General of India in Herat (Afghanistan), observed that more than 500 Afghan tourists were granted Indian visa daily from Herat-based Indian consulate alone.