Low Cost Health Care in India

After Thailand, India is the second country which offers the world’s cheapest health care services with best quality. So how can a common man get low cost health care (medicines and surgeries) in India for their health care needs.

Low Cost Medicines in India

1) Affordable Medicines: Government of India is taking tremendous initiatives by offering generic medicines which are the cheapest medicines available. These are basically sold under their chemical name and has no negative effects on the patient provided they are taken under medical supervision.

So where to buy cheapest medicines in India:

• Jeevandhara Stores – Hyderabad
• Akunuri Medical – Hyderabad
• sastimedicine.com 

You can get detailed information here.

• Amma Pharmacy -In June’14, Tamilnadu government started Amma Pharmacies where people can buy quality medicines at low price as compared to branded medicines sold by big pharma companies. And for easy accessibility medical shops are being set-up in busy places like bus stop so that they can be purchased very easily. And so far ten stores have been launched across 7 districts – Madurai, Sivaganga, Chennai, Salem, Cuddalore, Erode and Virudhunagar.

Cheapest Medical Procedures & Surgeries

• Heart Surgery: Dr. Devi Shetty founder of Narayana Multispecialiy Hospital offers world’s cheapest heart surgery in India at just INR 50,000. Read more information here.
• Plastic Surgery: Sassoon Hospital in Pune offers cheapest plastic surgery (reconstructive and cosmetic procedures) in India at a cost of INR 500.
• Cancer Insurance: ICICI prudential has ventured with Indian Cancer Society (ICS) and The New India Assurance Company Limited (NIA) to offer low cost premiums for cancer patients. Get detailed information here:

So what are the main reasons for the low cost health care in India.

1) Low Skilled Workers: Indian hospitals focus on work transferring model wherein day to day tasks are given to low skilled workers (for e.g. nurses) who are trained in performing routine medical tasks. Whereas high skilled tasks are performed by doctors which helps them focussing on technical aspects so that they can handle more patients since routine tasks are done by skilled workers working at low wages.

2) Buying and Using Cheap Medical Products: In order to offer low cost health care services in India, hospitals use cheaper stents or intraocular lenses or use discarded products after a single use.

3)  Operations in Rural Areas: With an aim to offer low cost healthcare to poor people in India, hospitals have spread their wings in remote areas by opening smaller clinics where basic amenities are available at a very affordable rates.

I will keep on adding more affordable health care services in India. Readers can also E-mail me on [email protected] in case they come across any service. I’ll then add relevant ones on this page. Thank You.