Hospital chains report 30% drop in international patient inflows due to Iran-Israel war

Just when India’s medical tourism industry was ready to take off after a brief dip due to developments in Bangladesh, the crisis in West Asia appears to have taken a toll on overseas patient inflows. Several hospital chains have reported a decline of up to 30 per cent in international patient inflows, hitting revenues by around 20 per cent since the war broke out in West Asia.

Patients from West Asia depend on Indian hospitals mainly for heart surgeries, oncology procedures, transplants, and orthopaedic treatments.

“We, at Fortis Hospitals, have witnessed a noticeable slowdown in patients from West Asia because of geopolitical tensions and war-related disruptions. Since the war broke out, there has been a decline of more than 30 per cent in international footfall across all cities,” said Anil Vinayak, group chief operating officer, Fortis Healthcare. The region contributes around 30 per cent of Fortis’ international business.

In the initial days, the impact was minimal as patients had already travelled to India. However, the numbers have gradually fallen. “If we compare the last 10 days of February with the first 10 days of March, the footfall of patients from West Asia has dropped by 75 per cent,” Vinayak added.

Industry sources indicate that for the current month, the overall revenue impact on international medical tourism due to the crisis could be 15-20 per cent. A more pronounced impact is likely in the coming months due to the decline in new patient arrivals from several key source countries.

Alisha Moopen, deputy managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, said the hospital chain derives only about 7 per cent of its revenue from medical value travel (MVT). “The share of West Asia is 15-20 per cent for us. A large part of this 7 per cent comes from countries such as the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and parts of Africa,” she said.

“From a medical tourism perspective, there is clearly a hit that we are seeing right now. However, we will be able to offset some of it with local business,” Moopen added.

According to government data on foreign tourist arrivals until 2024, around 75 per cent of tourists coming to India for this purpose were from Bangladesh. However, bilateral issues between India and Bangladesh led to a decline in these numbers last year, forcing Indian hospital chains to look at markets such as West Asia and Southeast Asia.

Take the case of Apollo Hospitals: the share of patients from other regions, including Africa, West Asia, and Southeast Asia, increased during the period as arrivals from Bangladesh dipped. Against this backdrop, the latest development has come as a setback for Indian hospital majors.

“We have not seen any immediate impact on medical equipment supplies due to the ongoing West Asia conflict. MVT continues to contribute steadily to our business. Bangladesh remains a key source of international patients and is expected to grow. While patient flows from Africa could be affected due to travel restrictions, we expect this impact to be short-term in nature,” said a spokesperson for Apollo Hospitals.

Apollo added that it is pursuing opportunities to expand international patient outreach in markets including Indonesia, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka as part of a strategy to diversify its global patient base.

Another North India-based hospital group said it has seen a dip in new registrations. “We usually see a high turnout from four major markets: Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. Patients from West Asia contribute around one-fifth of our international patient revenues. They typically come for transplants, cardiac surgery, oncology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and urology,” the source added. Business Standard