The fire swept through AMRI, a 180-bed, state-of-the-art facility regarded as one of the best hospitals in India. There were no exit doors or evacuation plan, the windows were sealed, and the local fire department took more than 90 minutes to arrive. Trapped, many of the patients died from smoke inhalation, according to a report in Christian Science Monitor. Most died in their beds, unable to escape the inferno that raged for hours. Residents living in the neighborhood accused the hospital guards of not taking any measures to control the fire and of even preventing others from rushing to the rescue of the victims who were abandoned by the hospital staff. The hospital is known to attract many foreign patients. However, it's too early to tell if any foreigners died in the blaze because most of the charred remains have yet to be identified.
“Large numbers of hospitals are coming up in a big way across India. What we need to look into when issuing the licenses for running the hospitals is that building construction has complied to safety building codes and a safety plan is in place in case of fire,” said Dr. Muzzafer Ahmed, a member of the country's National Disaster Management Authority, speaking to the media.
Though Indians remain among the most under-served in the world in terms of health care, growing for-profit Indian hospital industry has been promoting itself as an inexpensive alternative to high-cost surgery in the United States and Europe. There are a large number of foreign-trained highly-skilled physicians and surgeons in India. And the heart bypass surgery that costs $6,000 in India costs more than $20,000 in the US, according to Yaleglobal. There are similar deep discounts available for joint replacement, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and surrogate mothers' womb rental services.
Many Indians are expecting exponential growth in foreign demand to take advantage of the opportunity to combine medical treatment with vacations at significantly lower costs. "With health care costs going north," says Dr Alok Roy of Fortis Hospital, one of the leading service providers in the medical tourism sector, "patients are compelled to look at cost-effective destinations for medical treatments. And what could be better if they can combine that with sightseeing at scenic locations?"
The safety concerns about India go beyond the fear of being burned in a fire. Other major concerns include:
1. Fake pharmaceuticals are a big worry. In fact, 75 percent of counterfeit drugs supplied world over have origins in India, according to a report released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
2. Lack of proper hygiene contributes to a large number of infections in hospital settings. A recent investigation into the death of 13 women in a Rajasthan hospital found that the poor hygiene standard in the hospital were flagrantly overlooked, according to Times of India.
Will the latest incident at AMRI in Kolkatta, combined with general concerns about unhygienic practices and widespread use of fake pharmaceuticals, hurt India's efforts at growing its medical tourism industry? The short answer is yes. However, the growth prospects could improve in the future when the Indian government and the hospital industry begin to improve the safety situation to regain the trust of prospective foreign customers.
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WHO Report on Medical Tourism in India
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Here's a National newspaper report on UAE funding hospitals and clinics in Pakistan:
Seven UAE-funded hospitals and clinics will be built in Pakistan at a cost of nearly Dh63 million, Wam, the state news agency, reported yesterday.
After a signing ceremony between Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, director of Emirati projects to assist Pakistan, and Maj Gen Zahir Shah, commander of the GOC 45th Engineers Division of the Pakistani Armed Forces, it was announced that two hospitals will be built under the names of Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikha Fatima.
Mr Al Ghafli said the UAE would also fund medical equipment for both hospitals and all of the clinics.
The increasing number of healthcare projects in Pakistan was a sign of the strong co-operation between Pakistan and the Emirates, said Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, chairwoman of the General Women's Union and of the Family Development Foundation.
"Pakistan was one of the first three countries in the world to recognise the UAE, following the declaration of the Union on December 2, 1971," she said.
Sheikha Fatima said the active role the UAE plays in places of crisis was due to the generosity of the president, Sheikh Khalifa.
"We thank Allah that when humanitarian work anywhere worldwide is mentioned, the name of the UAE comes up, thanks to its generosity and its strong commitment to shoulder its responsibilities and to preserve human dignity," she said....
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In February of this year, a medical team from the RCA and 400 local volunteers initiated a programme to provide measles and polio vaccines to Pakistani children.
The Campaign to Cure One Million Children, sponsored by Sheikha Fatima, also provided free medical treatment to more than five million children who suffered from malnutrition and digestive and respiratory diseases as a result of the flooding.
The UAE ambassador to Pakistan, Eissa Abdullah Al Nuaimi, noted that last month a UAE-funded school for 400 pupils was completed.
It will take 18 months to build the hospitals.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/health/uae-to-fund-hospitals-in-pakistan
A Bangladeshi is among the dead at Kolkatta's AMRI hospital, according The Independent of Bangladesh:
DHAKA: Bangladeshi patient is among the 73 killed so far in the massive fire at AMRI private hospital in Kolkata, the foreign ministry says.
However, a number of foreign and Indian media put the death toll at 90 in the hospital inferno, saying nearby hospitals were providing emergency treatment to the seriously wounded AMRI hospital victims.
The process to bring back the body of Gauranga Mandal through the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata is underway, the South Asia Department director general Mashfi Binte Shams told the reporters.
Family members had identified the body, Shams said.
She, however, did not have Gauranga's address or other information about him immediately.
Nearly 160 patients were admitted in the facility, The Times Of India said quoting hospital sources.
Additional director general, Fire Services, D Biswas was quoted as saying that patients who died were admitted in the critical care and orthopaedic units and were unable to move.
Only 85 patients were rescued and removed to two other units of the same hospital located at Mukundapur and Saltlake, they told the Indian daily. It said the hospital authority could not confirm the condition of remaining 75 patients....
http://www.theindependentbd.com/international/asia/83826-20-killed-in-kolkata-hospital-fire.html
Here's an excerpt of Businessweek story on medical tourism:
Convincing Americans to jet off to third-world India is a bit of a harder sell, though. By buying a 23.9% stake in Parkway from U.S. private equity firm TPG for $687 million, Fortis has now positioned itself to become the regional leader in medical tourism, with a strong presence in India (where it has 46 hospitals) for the most price-sensitive patients and a new base in Singapore for higher-end customers aiming for more luxury. Investors are pretty upbeat about the deal: Fortis shares today hit a twelve-month high of 187.4 rupees and are up 35% so far this year. Parkway investors are happy, too. The Singapore company hit a 52-week high of 3.3 Singapore dollars today.
http://www.businessweek.com/blogs/eyeonasia/archives/2010/03/india_hospital.html
Here's an APP report on the use of technology by US to teach and treat in Pakistan:
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter Thursday highlighting Pak-US cooperation in science and technology said that it has trained more than 100 doctors nationwide, and treated more than 2,000 patients remotely through the use of cutting-edge technology. During his visit here Thursday the Ambassador and his wife Marilyn Wyatt met with the faculty and students of the Rawalpindi Medical College at Holy Family Hospital’s telemedicine facility, working together with U.S. hospitals.
He said Pak-US cooperation in science and technology focused on many elements, including innovations in Pakistan’s public health sector. During a tour of the hospital with the hospital’s Telemedicine E-Health Training Center Project Director Dr. Asif Zafar, Ambassador Munter stated, “Holy Family’s partnership with American hospitals is an example of the true spirit of our people, who work together, across oceans, to improve access to healthcare in remote areas of Pakistan and treat the sick.” He said, “We commend Dr. Asif Zafar and the Holy Family Hospital team for its efforts to strengthen the health sector in Pakistan, and look forward to more shared successes that bring Pakistanis and Americans closer together.”
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=134092
this is very shocking and shame news and it will surly affect the Indian medical tourism.. great job keep going..
medical vacation
heart surgery in india involves a lot of precision , need accuracy and performing the surgery requires use of cutting - edge technologies such as 256 slice CT scan, Cardiac MRI, PET scan, SPECT thallium, 3D echocardiography, Contrast echocardiography and Robotic surgery, to name a few that are available in the world class hospitals in India. These technologies at an affordable cost have lead to an increase in the success rate of Heart Operations in India. heart surgery in india cost
Heart surgery involves a lot of precision , need accuracy and performing the surgery requires use of cutting - edge technologies such as 256 slice CT scan, Cardiac MRI, PET scan, SPECT thallium, 3D echocardiography, Contrast echocardiography and Robotic surgery, to name a few that are available in the world class hospitals in India. These technologies at an affordable cost have lead to an increase in the success rate of Heart Operations in India. heart surgery in india
Cardiac hospitals in India
Spine surgery India
Here's an excerpt from Fortune Mag on drug safety in India:
Thakur left Kumar's office stunned. He returned home that evening to find his 3-year-old son playing on the front lawn. The previous year in India, the boy had developed a serious ear infection. A pediatrician prescribed Ranbaxy's version of amoxiclav, a powerful antibiotic. For three scary days, his son's 102° fever persisted, despite the medicine. Finally, the pediatrician changed the prescription to the brand-name antibiotic made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Within a day, his fever disappeared. Thakur hadn't thought about it much before. Now he took the boy in his arms and resolved not to give his family any more Ranbaxy drugs until he knew the truth.
What Thakur unearthed over the next months would form some of the most devastating allegations ever made about the conduct of a drug company. His information would lead Ranbaxy into a multiyear regulatory battle with the FDA, and into the crosshairs of a Justice Department investigation that, almost nine years later, has finally come to a resolution.
On May 13, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to seven federal criminal counts of selling adulterated drugs with intent to defraud, failing to report that its drugs didn't meet specifications, and making intentionally false statements to the government. Ranbaxy agreed to pay $500 million in fines, forfeitures, and penalties -- the most ever levied against a generic-drug company. (No current or former Ranbaxy executives were charged with crimes.) Thakur's confidential whistleblower complaint, which he filed in 2007 and which describes how the company fabricated and falsified data to win FDA approvals, was also unsealed. Under federal whistleblower law, Thakur will receive more than $48 million as part of the resolution of the case.
Fortune's account of what occurred inside Ranbaxy and how the FDA responded to it raises serious questions about whether our government can effectively safeguard a drug supply that last year was 84% generic, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, much of that manufactured in distant places. More than 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients for all U.S. drugs now come from overseas, as do 40% of finished pills and capsules. (Click here for a list of Ranbaxy products in the U.S.)
2. The dark side of the generics boom
Today's global market for generic drugs is $242 billion and growing. In America we have embraced generics as a vital way to control costs, a trend likely only to accelerate as health reform extends treatment to millions and our population ages.
Ranbaxy was the first foreign generics manufacturer to sell drugs in the U.S. and rose rapidly to become, today, the sixth-largest generic-drug maker in the country, with more than $1 billion in U.S. sales last year (and $2.3 billion worldwide). The company, now majority owned by Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, sells its products in more than 150 countries and has 14,600 employees.
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/15/ranbaxy-fraud-lipitor/
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