Daijiworld Media Network - Bangkok
Bangkok, Nov 8: India's medical tourism sector could witness a significant surge if international insurance companies begin covering treatment expenses for foreign patients seeking healthcare in the country, Apollo Hospitals Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Garmin Health Summit in Bangkok, Reddy said global insurance companies should not only allow international coverage but also actively encourage patients to seek treatment abroad. Such a move could help patients save considerably on medical expenses and make India a more attractive healthcare destination.
"We have requested the government to lead us on a delegation to work with the insurance companies. If they start covering... then you will see a large segment of the Western world coming here," she said, adding that India already receives a significant number of non-resident Indians for medical treatment.
According to official figures, the global medical travel market was valued at around USD 115.6 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 286.1 billion by 2030. India's medical tourism market was estimated at around USD 8.7 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to USD 16.2 billion by 2030.
Reddy also highlighted the growing importance of preventive healthcare, pointing out that Apollo Hospitals conducted more than four million preventive health check-ups in 2025. She said Apollo had begun offering preventive health check-ups nearly 40 years ago, and several other healthcare providers had since entered the segment.
She emphasised that Apollo viewed preventive healthcare as a clinical initiative focused on early detection and long-term disease prevention rather than merely a commercial service. Artificial intelligence and growing patient awareness, she said, were emerging as important drivers of this shift.
Reddy noted that preventive screenings sometimes detect serious conditions, including advanced heart disease requiring procedures such as angiograms or stent placement, as well as cancers. She said comprehensive health assessments should examine the overall health of individuals and track changes over time, rather than focus only on routine indicators such as cholesterol levels.
She also spoke about the growing role of artificial intelligence in healthcare, saying AI could help identify symptoms and digital health signals and enable individuals to make changes to their daily routines. She referred to the role of genetics and epigenetics, explaining that lifestyle influences how genes are expressed, and said Apollo's health assessments examine several indicators, including telomere length, to develop corrective health plans.
Apollo is also working towards rebuilding its hospital operating system with an AI-first approach to automate routine tasks and integrate clinical knowledge, algorithms and data into everyday patient care. The initiative is expected to support clinical risk prediction, scoring, research and improved treatment decisions, Reddy said.
The two-day Garmin Health Summit in Bangkok brought together global innovators and collaborators in medical technology to showcase digital health solutions. Garmin Health Global Sales Senior Director Jorn Watzke said the company had seen considerable interest from early collaborators such as Apollo Hospitals and hoped to expand its presence in India.
Apollo Hospitals and Garmin Health have also partnered on a rural health initiative called 'Grameen by Garmin', under which the health technology company provided 100 smartwatches to residents of Aragonda village in Andhra Pradesh. The programme focuses on monitoring health indicators among people with diabetes and hypertension and tracking changes over time to assess the impact of the intervention in a rural community.