I had noticed this increase in people not only from the United States but also Western Europe heading East to have surgery. I was concerned about it for several reasons, especially the ones I mentioned just now.
I thought that it was relatively ironic that the United States can say we can outsource manufacturing because we are really a service country. And here we are suddenly outsourcing a service. And it seems somewhat quite ironic that we are sending a service to what I guess is still called a Third World or a developing country. It also made me think: What is this doing to the indigenous healthcare system in India?
When I looked into both things, I felt that this is really something that should not be happening. I thought it was a good subject matter for what I call a 'Cook book'.
Because most of my books deal with medical and social issues that I think the public should know something about. And this seemed to be a very good idea because most people in the United States are totally unaware how big this is becoming.
And as a lot of people in India, the well-read and the middle class, are thinking that this is wonderful because we get to use these wonderful brand new hospitals that are being built rapidly.
But what is it doing to the general public health system in India? If you look at it closely, you start to realise that this may not be the best thing. It may be the best thing for the upper middle class but it certainly isn't the best thing for the vast majority of the Indian population, because at least some money and effort is being diverted. When that happens they are taking them away [the resources] from the public health system.
This is particularly bad because even the government is very eager to support medical tourism and giving tax breaks to these businesses. The government is supporting this private enterprise -- and again, that is money that could be spent on the public health system, which is desperately in need.
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