MUSCAT: The Indian Embassy in Muscat has clarified on Sunday, regardless of the visa type, anyone visiting the country can avail medical services.
The embassy issued the clarification on the wake of the new regulation concerning the availability of medical services and the visa status of the visitor saying, anyone on visit to the country can avail medical service round the clock and no visa status is a prerogative to it.
India’s Home Ministry had announced that foreigners visiting India can avail treatment, except organ transplant, anywhere in the country without obtaining a medical visa, in a statement on Friday. “People on tourist visa to India can always get treatment done from there, irrespective of their visa status,” P Kannan Nair, Second Secretary (Consular) at the Indian Embassy told the Observer.
However, this is not applicable to organ transplant as it requires lot of documentation between the patient and the hospital in India. He said that this decision was taken as some foreigners, who are already in India on valid visas, were facing difficulties in availing medical treatment in the event of falling sick during their stay. “What is the attraction of the new rule is that visitors are able to get medical treatment even for pre-existing diseases.” “This is just a simplification of policy of the government to make healthcare services available for all foreigners visiting the country.”
According to the statistics shared by the embassy, it issues an average of 100,000 visas including both manual and e-visas for tourists intending to visit the country for various reasons. Out of this, at least 75 per cent to 80 per cent constitute medical visas followed by education and tourism.
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