Chennai, the health capital of India has come to be recognised as the ‘The Mecca of Medicine’.

Coimbatore is also fast emerging as the next health destination in South India. With several specialised centres for treatment of disorders, this city has been performing exceedingly well in the recent past.

‘Medical Tourism’, the buzzword in the wellness sector is coming of age, albeit very slowly, without government support. Individually, the corporate hospitals are attracting patients from foreign countries through their websites, or agents or by word- of -mouth. The hype is still there and the expectations are quite high.

Each hospital has a list of foreign patients to boast about. In Chennai, speciality hospitals, like Apollo and MIOT, have more than 10 percent of their patients from other countries. Of course, there is no clear data on the foreign patients visiting Tamil Nadu.

This year's tourism policy note states that about 2 percent of the foreigners visiting Tamil Nadu come for treatment. But there is no market research to prove that this trend has taken strong roots in the state. The registers in individual hospitals reflect marginal increase in traffic in this sector.

Knowing the potential, the multi-speciality hospitals in Chennai offer packages for foreign patients. Apollo has a tie-up with Taj Group of Hotels. The patients rejuvenate in the comfort and hospitality of Taj resorts after treatment. Besides, the Tamil tradition and culture interests the foreigners, according to a hospital spokesperson. The resorts at the historic port town of Mahabalipuram are the most preferred destinations among medical tourists. NRI medical tourists have evinced interest in tradition and culture and they also visit the temple town of Kancheepuram.

Similarly, Coimbatore offers plenty of scenic spots in the nearby Nilgris district and in neighbouring state of Kerala .These regions are rich in biodiversity, and the patients may relax and recuperate after treatment. The hospitals have information about the tourist spots on their website.

Several hospitals have travel desks that book tickets for people to visit the neighbouring states. ``Many prefer kerala as it not only offers a good opportunity for sight - seeing but also offers authentic ayurvedic massasges," said a travel desk manger at the Apollo Hospitals, Chennai.

The cost-effective treatment combined with the tourism package comes much lesser than the cost that the foreign patients would have to incur in their country. Besides, they need not wait for months even to perform simple surgeries., especially orthopaedic treatment.

It started with orthopaedic surgeries. Even now, the orthopaedic surgeries top the list of procedures performed on foreign patients. However, the list range from cardio-thoracic to cosmetics surgeries.

In spite of the buoyant mood, the speciality hospitals feel at loss as the State Government has done very little. The problem is right at the root. For, tourism is one of the most neglected sectors, and therefore the State is not in a position to create the necessary infrastructure or lend the finances to promote medical tourism in a big way.