Panaji: Goa is missing out on medical tourism as it has failed to attract patients from abroad, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said Sunday.

He said private and government hospitals will have to work unitedly to ensure Goa becomes a destination for people from other countries looking for quality health care.



"We are missing the boat as far as medical tourism is concerned. We are still not in a position to attract people from other countries to Goa to get operated," Rane said.


"There are other states which are achieving this (medical tourism). I strongly believe private and government (health sectors) need to work in a united manner to achieve this," Rane added.

He said there should be the integration of private and government health care establishments since it was not possible for the state to work alone to improve medical facilities.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the Healthway Hospital here, a facility started by 50 private doctors from Goa.

He said Goa had started taking steps to integrate private and government health sectors, citing the example of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) treatment.

STEMI is a serious heart attack caused due to one of the major arteries supplying oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the heart muscle getting blocked.

Patients suffering from it require thrombolysis, the medical term for the breaking down of blood clots using medication.

He said Goa would be the first state to implement the STEMI programme under which private and government hospitals would work together to thrombolysis patients.