India’s medicine and medical sector collapsed due to political change in Bangladesh
Due to ongoing political changes in Bangladesh, the Indian pharmaceutical industry and medical-tourism sector have collapsed. In particular, Indian pharmaceutical companies suffer from delayed payments, shipment delays and unwillingness of importers.
Along with this, India’s medical tourism sector is also suffering greatly due to visa complications. Bangladeshis are canceling their medical appointments or delaying treatment due to not getting visas. Such a picture has emerged in a report of the Indian media News 18.
According to the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexil) under India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Indian companies are now hesitating to supply products to Bangladesh due to heavy arrears and concerns about financial stability.
Raja Bhanu, Managing Director of Pharmexil, said Indian pharmaceutical companies are facing significant challenges due to political unrest in Bangladesh due to concerns about dues, financial stability and logistics issues.
Bhanu also said that being a neighboring country, logistics has become one of the major issues. Consignments are getting stuck at the border and getting insurance coverage is difficult. But the situation is gradually improving.
He also said that we can expect the political and economic situation in Bangladesh to improve. However, it is not yet time to tell how much impact it will have on our pharmaceutical and tourism sectors.
According to News 18, Bangladesh procures only 30 percent of the raw materials required for its medicines from India. Apart from large pharmaceutical companies in India, small and medium-sized companies also supply these raw materials.
According to the report, a Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company exports raw materials for medicines to Bangladesh. The company has stopped taking new export orders until the situation returns to normal in Bangladesh.
An official of that organization said, “The situation in terms of cargo transportation is now good. However, during the conflict in Bangladesh, the loss of several lakhs of rupees stuck has not yet been recovered. We are not taking any new export orders for Bangladesh until the situation normalizes.
Meanwhile, India’s medical tourism sector has also suffered a lot. Rajeev Taneja, CEO of Global Care, an organization that helps foreign patients get treatment in India, said that through them, the largest number of patients came from Bangladesh to India in 2023. Which is more than half of their total foreign patients.
However, the political change in Bangladesh has had a huge negative impact on India’s medical tourism. No one is going to seek medical treatment from Bangladesh. Many are canceling appointments with doctors or delaying treatment.
Rajeev said that the number of patients coming from Bangladesh has reduced by 50 percent. As the income of the hospital has decreased, the health risk of the patients has also increased.
Another medical travel company called Medijourn gave almost the same information. Medijourn co-founder Ishan Dodhiwala said the instability in Bangladesh has undoubtedly affected the number of patients receiving treatment in India. This poses a challenge to healthcare providers and related services.
