Bangladeshi patient inflow to India declines amid 'strained relations'

At the Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) along Kolkata's arterial Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the dedicated reception desk meant for foreign patients is strangely quiet. It's been that way since September last year when a student revolt in Bangladesh culminated in a regime change.

That, and ensuing bad blood with New Delhi, has seen a sharp drop in the number of medical visas, issued to patients from the country visiting India for treatment, with Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai being preferred destinations.

Dr Devi Shetty, chairman and founder, Narayana Health that runs RTIICS said the number of patients from Bangladesh has dipped "drastically".

"It's not the rich Bangladeshis going out of their country for surgery, it's the working class who cannot afford the treatment in Bangladesh who generally come to India. That section of society is currently deprived. I hope they (the two countries) sit across, address this problem, and increase the number of medical visas for them," said Dr Shetty.

In recent years, Bangladesh has emerged among the top two source countries for so-called medical tourism with tens of thousands travelling to India for medical treatment, especially to the Northeast, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. In response to this trend, some hospitals in the Northeast and Kolkata expanded to meet the needs of Bangladeshi patients.

According to people familiar with the matter in government, in the case of Bangladesh, visas are only being issued for students enrolled in Indian institutions and people requiring emergency medical treatment. That effectively translates into a near-complete ban on medical visas.

"While India was issuing almost 1,000 visas every day in Dhaka alone, this number is down to about 500 a month now," one of the people cited above added.

"We are issuing visas in limited manner for medical, emergency purposes. Once the situation becomes normal, law-and-order is restored, then we will begin our full-fledged operations of visa," Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the of MEA, told the media while addressing a weekly briefing in August last.

However, there has been no change in the number of visas issued to nationals of African countries, another important source of people coming to India for medical treatment.

According to industry estimates, in 2024, India saw 7.3 million medical tourists, which is a significant increase from previous years. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2023, showed that Delhi attracts around 30% of the medical tourists visiting India.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise joint managing director Sangita Reddy admitted that the ban on Bangladesh visas has impacted the medical tourism industry across the country. "Every year, we get a huge number of patients from Bangladesh. However, following a ban on the visas for Bangladesh, the numbers for the patients coming to India for the treatment has completely reduced."

"Earlier we used to receive around 150 Bangladeshi patients every day in our OPD while 15 – 18 patients were admitted in the hospital on any given day. But after the problem started the number dwindled drastically. Now we get around 20 – 25 patients daily in the OPD on an average. There are hardly one or two admitted in the hospital," added Sudipta Mitra, chief executive of Kolkata's Peerless Hospital.

The people familiar with the matter in the government, said after a significant drop in visas issued for medical reasons to Pakistani nationals following the sharp downturn in bilateral ties in 2019, there has also been a reduction in such visas issued to nationals of Afghanistan and Bangladesh in recent years.

"Afghanistan and Bangladesh were among the main recipients of visas for medical reasons over the past decade. With the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021, India virtually stopped issuing visas to Afghan nationals, many of whom travelled to New Delhi for medical treatment. After the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh last August, India's visa operations were impacted by the security situation," the first person cited above added.

Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a boom in medical tourism in the country and the national capital, Dr Aashish Chaudhry, Director, Akash Health care, stated, listing Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), West Asia, Bangladesh, and Nepal as major sources of such patients. 

The effective ban on medical visas has hurt, he said.

As it has hurt Max Healthcare, whose senior director Anas Abdul Wajid,said: "The Bangladesh market contributes to about 5% of Max Healthcare's total international revenue and our revenue from there has declined by 50%, following the ban."

Chaudhry added that the situation is similar to 2021, after a similar visa ban was imposed on medical tourists from Afghanistan. "Afghanistan patients were contributing more than 25% of our international patient revenue (at the time). Following this, we started exploring newer markets like Fiji Islands and Mongolia and other allied countries, including in Africa. This will likely help us now with the new ban on Bangladesh visas."

Hospitals say most medical tourists come for high end tertiary care.

It is possible that India's loss could benefit other countries in the neighbourhood.

Without specifically commenting on the ban on visas for people from Bangladesh, Reddy said that there is a need for a liberal visa policy for overseas patients to boost medical tourism. "If you look at neighbouring countries like Thailand, Turkey, the Philippines, and Singapore, they offer visa-on-arrival facilities for medical tourists. We are requesting the government to enhance the ease of patient entry, speed up the visa process, and promote medical tourism in India."

"There should be an ease in providing visas for medical tourism and there has to be regulation on rates," added Dr Ajay Swaroop, chairperson, Sir Gangaram hospital.

Nowhere is the crisis as evident as it is in Kolkata.

"We have seen a significant decline in the patient inflow from Bangladesh. The numbers have dropped from 400- 500 patients in a month earlier to just around 30- 35 now," said an official at the city's Fortis Hospital.

Some hospitals said that even though the flow of patients have stopped, Bangladeshi patients are still undergoing treatment through video consultations.

"The flow of patients has definitely dwindled but it hasn't stopped totally. Some critical and cancer patients are still coming, even though the volume is much less. But we are providing video-consultation, including post procedural follow-ups, for those who can't come," said Ayanabha Debgupta, regional chief operating officer (east) of Manipal Hospitals.

It is not just the hospitals that have taken a hit because of this turmoil. The entire medical tourism ecosystem, tarting from small restaurants to a guest houses, from money exchange outlets to travel agencies is facing the heat.

"Our outlet, just opposite to RTIICS in Mukundapur area, has closed down since March 1. I don't know when it will reopen. Visas are not being issued. The inflow of Bangladeshi patients has totally stopped over the past few months, as a result of which we were not getting enough customers," said Sudip Ghosh, owner of Shyamoli NR Travels.

"We have 28 rooms. Earlier all the rooms used to remain occupied every day. Now only four or five rooms, or even less, remain occupied on any given day. Some of the staff have left as the owner was not being able to pay the salaries," said Mrinal Hati, manager of Maity Villa Guest House, near Kolkata's Peerless Hospital.