ON a visit to India if you happened to come across Omani patients in renowned hospitals spread across the country, wondered how they had landed up there and got more curious and talked to people in the sector in the Sultanate, you are sure to encounter a name. And that’s Lijihas Hussain, the brains behind making India the preferred choice among Omanis for medical tourism.
A couple of decades ago India lagged behind on a list of choice for medical travels for Omanis, and one of the main reasons for that was a lack of information about the choices and facilities available in India for Omani citizens. All that changed thanks to the sustained, regular initiatives made by Lijihas.
From 2000 to 2008, most Omani patients preferred travelling to Thailand and Iran, while India lagged behind as the third or fourth option for medical treatment.
Over the years, Oman achieved many milestones in the health sector, and world-class health facilities and hospitals came up here, but there were issues such as patient backlogs, and this prompted Omanis to continue going abroad for treatment. Countries like Iran, Thailand and European countries like Germany were the preferred destinations. The choice of travelling to India for medical treatment was restricted to hospitals in Mumbai and Chennai.
It was during 2013 that Lijihas, a dynamic Muscat-based entrepreneur with an impressive track record of organising big events, exhibitions and road shows, took up the challenging task of organising medical tourism events in Oman to promote India as the key destination for Omani citizens.
Regular events and exhibitions were organised, and India soon became the most sough-after healthcare destination for Omanis. “The FICCI (Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry) conducted its first-ever medical tourism show in Oman in 2014, but we did it here in 2013,” beams Lijihas.
The first FICCI event was held in Muscat from April 11 to 12 at the Crowne Plaza, which saw Lijihas and his team coordinating and organising essential services for the show that was inaugurated by the minister of Health of Oman.
“We appreciate the commitment, effort and services provided by Lijihas, who initiated medical tourism exhibitions in Oman. Our participation in these events commenced from 2013. Those days we were only part of some of the events as the main focus was Iran and Thailand, besides representation from Germany and Malaysia,” says Dr Jaseela, managing director of Punarnava Ayurveda.
“Things changed gradually and now there are a lot of participants from India, offering more advanced and specialised healthcare solutions. These exhibitions helped change Omanis’ perspective and now India is considered as the most preferred market for medical destinations for Omanis,” points out Dr Jaseela.
How it happened
The first-ever official medical delegation from India came to Oman in 2008. Global Hospital was the main player from India with tie-ups and arrangements with Sultan Qaboos University. “In 2011, there was a delegation headed by the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). We organised B2Bs and hospital visits to understand the market scenario. Both delegations were coordinated by us,” says Lijihas.
“In 2013 we took up the India pavilion of the International Medical Show, organised by Mr Eyad. We roped in 12 hospitals from India. Medanta from Delhi, RG Stone and Punarnawa were the major players. Medanta made arrangements with Hayat clinic here during their first visit to Muscat. In 2014 we made the same arrangements with the International Medical Show bringing several hospitals and Ayurveda centres from India,” he adds.
“Commercial benefits were limited, yet for the passion of promoting India we took the initiative and promoted these shows in Oman,” says Lijihas.
“Success led us on to step up our efforts further and in the 2018 show CII agreed to come with an official delegation, and there were 66 participants from India. The Indian embassy in Oman hosted B2Bs on the embassy premises. It was a mind-opening event to everyone and it helped a lot of Indian hospitals. That was one of the best shows ever,” he stresses.
“The success of our shows changed the mindset of Oman health show organisers. They made sure that there was a separate pavilion for Indian hospitals in those medical tourism events and gradually India became the most preferred destination for Omanis,” he recalls.
Lijihas is the architect of Indian medical exhibitions in Oman. “For this year’s health exhibition, we have got some good number of hospital teams from India,” he notes.
Lijihas was invited to almost all medical tourism shows organised in India and Dubai and visited as a delegate events held by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in Bangalore and Delhi.
“Over the years, I attended the World Ayurveda Congress, the Global Ayurveda Congress, the Ayush 2018, Dubai, CII’s Kerala Health Tourism shows held in Calicut and Cochin and the Kerala travel mart,” he recalls
“Oman is a great place for events and exhibitions and has great potential too. In the coming years, we are bringing in some of the best medical, property-related events to Muscat,” he adds.
