Jesus and Women Essay Example for Free

Jesus and Women Essay Jesus Jesus Christ is believed to be the son of God who is a historical person that lived in Palestine about two thousand years ago and research has it that Christians who are believed to be his followers traditionally acknowledged him as their Lord and Savior and they take the initiative of imitating him since they believe that He lived a life without blemish and thus it is their duty to imitate him as much as possible. As far as Christianity is concerned then the description of moral issues is based on the basis of the texts from the bible and is fully authoritative and bear the stamp of God’s authority and it can still be applied in our lives today directly without compromise. Though most people tend to give attention to the voices of Christian tradition that is outside the written scriptures, some to the psychological arguments, sociological, medicinal or even evolutionary biology and others to their personal intuition, we are all influenced by the culture of our times whether we like it or not. Character is a very important thing in our lives since everybody will want to know how to associate with you according to your character since character determines a lot about an individual and that everybody including those outside the church have the idea of seeking guidance that is authoritative in our habits and the culture of our present times and this gives a lot of problems to Christians who want to participate in debates that deal with morals. Research also states that reading the bible is like listening to a conversation that has many voices that continues to speak to us and arguing in our hearts and we feel like it continues in us as time goes by thus we need to have intelligence and creativity in the interpretation as we listen to it. Mostly when questions were asked to Jesus during his mission, they were surrounding the references of the laws of Moses since people wanted to know his attitude towards the laws and people also wanted to know what they could learn from his attitude in order to get help on how to address similar issues in their own days whether the bible has something to say about it or it is silent. The bible gives evidence that the attitude of Jesus to the Old Testament was not straightforward since he highly respected the law and giving interpretations that strengthened it though on the other hand he sometimes seems to set the law aside and finding himself in a position of arguing with legal elders of his time. As we try to learn the character of Jesus, it is noted that some of his actions such as the healing on the Sabbath and welcoming people who are unclean such as the woman who committed adultery tends to bring contradiction to the way people regard him and it also reveals an approach that is flexible to the aspects of the law. A woman who was found committing adultery was supposed to be stoned to death according to the laws of Moses but when it happened during the time of Jesus and the woman was brought to him his response contradicted the law completely because he did not condemn the woman nor judged her actions but instead asked anyone who had not sinned to throw a stone at her but they all left without doing so as Jesus wrote on the ground and asked the woman to go and leave her sinful life and she was forgiven her sins and all this was a critical point of view of many elders of his time. This action of Jesus triggers a lot of questions as far as women are concerned such questions as was Jesus a feminist? Or was he just showing love and compassion to the woman? And many questions that still remain unanswered to date because the verse in John 8:1-11 in King James Version gives a different meaning to what is recorded in other bible versions. The love and compassion that Jesus had mostly leaned on the side of the inferior people in the society such as the lame, the blind, sinners who needed to be saved and also the women who were seen to be inferior beings in the society by the people of his time and also the old testament times since they could not be allowed to read the torah and thus Jesus wanted to call all these people to the equality that he believes they have in the kingdom of God. The status of women during the time of Jesus and also in Palestine as a whole was that of people who were considered to be inferior although there were still heroines at that time. There are no negative attitudes that are indicated in the gospels by Jesus towards women and thus research has it that Jesus is considered to be a feminist because by his actions he tries to bring out the value of women that was not seen or was neglected by everyone and that women did not have any value in Palestine. The attitude of Jesus is considered to be a positive attitude since he is the only person who did not disregard women as people who are inferior in the society and he does not portray it through the primitive Christian communal point of view of women and this gives out his feminist attitude which is referred to as feminism and is the personalism that is highly extended to women and is considered to be the constitutive part of the gospel which is the good news of Jesus. Jesus action towards the woman who committed adultery is really not to be questioned as far as positive attitude is concerned because in many occasions in the gospels Women were treated as second-class citizens and also treating women not as persons but as sex objects and they also expected Jesus as he was one of them to do the same. Seeing a woman as an evil sexual creature does not necessarily mean that she is was one of the points that Jesus wanted to get to the minds of the Pharisees when they saw the woman who came to wash the feet of Jesus with her hair when they were having dinner at a Pharisees house. Jesus wanted to make a difference in the opinions that people had towards women since that was one of the only way he could give them hope because nobody could give the women a second chance due to their strong beliefs that women were not supposed to be treated as humans but did by showing them that women deserve equal treatment to men through his actions of forgiving the woman and not condemning her. The language that Jesus used when responding to the issue of the adulterous woman is seen to be a critical language that is used to enlighten the moods of the reader and to make the people who were hearing the message from Jesus to understand what he fully meant by telling them to throw a stone at the woman if they did not have any sin. Jesus is still not in a position to be condemned since the laws of Moses indicated that both the woman and the man should be stoned to death once caught in the act of adultery and this was not the case when the woman was brought to Jesus because the woman was brought alone and it is evident that she did not commit adultery alone and that the people were referring to the laws of Moses and so they were the people to be condemned anyway through their unfair action. Due to facts that women were never regarded as of any value, the character of Jesus proved to be unique and with a plan since he was the only person who could see the value of a woman in any given situation whether good or bad since the woman who committed adultery was considered to be an evil person who was not even supposed to be in the presence of Jesus and never expected that Jesus could treat her the way he did. The translations of different versions of the bible concerning this event of the adulterous woman has to be criticized since they all portray different opinions that don’t give a matching conclusion since the language that can be found in the New International Version is quite different from that in the King James Version and also the New King James Version of the bible. As part of this discussion of Jesus and the women it is good for us to take a close look at other instances where Jesus was seen to be supporting women in the bible or even in his mission. Most of Jesus disciples were men but he also had women disciples who also played a big role as far as his ministry is concerned. The attitude of Jesus towards women is seen to be a good attitude since he taught them the gospel, what the scriptures meant, and the truths in the Christian religion in general. According to Judaism some of the actions of Jesus towards women is considered to be very improper like teaching the women the scriptures and as it is recalled this was very wrong. Jesus was always seeing the potential of women which other people could not see and through this he tried his level best to break some of the customs deliberately in an extraordinary way since this custom was invidious to women As the men tried to tempt Jesus with a question regarding the adulterous woman he did not tense because he knew that the same people who were condemning this woman were also sinners, he used a style of rhetorical questions where he did not have to answer them the way they expected him to do so. There were many women who were following Jesus both the married and the unmarried and they all wanted to be part of his ministry since they had been given the privilege to have a say in his ministry that made them feel like they belong somewhere since they had been feeling rejected by all people and they had been feeling very inferior in the society since nobody was in the position to give them a helping hand in their weaknesses. In the book of Luke 8:1 the presence of women in the number of disciples that Jesus had is felt since there are those who are even mentioned by name in the sentences with the twelve disciples when Jesus made his way through towns and villages and the twelve were with him preaching and proclaiming the word of God which was the good news of the kingdom of God. At that time the twelve disciples were with him as well as certain women who were there to provide for them the resources that they needed. The roles that were played by these women in early Christianity are the same as those played by the present deacons of the churches today since in the Greek language the words used in the bible such as â€Å"provided for† has the same meaning as the word â€Å"ministered to† as used in the gospel of Mark. It is significant to appreciate the freedom of women being in a position to follow him and minister to him when it is recalled that women were not even supposed to leave their households whether married or still a daughter of someone and even being allowed to read the scriptures or study it in the more observant settings. The connection of women to Jesus is still very intimate even during his resurrection from the dead because there are other three accounts of the resurrection of Jesus in the bible that are all related to the raising of a woman, Jairus’ daughter in the book of (Mathew 9:18. ; Mark 5:22. ; Luke. 8:41. ) The second resurrection that was performed by Jesus was that of the only son of the widow that lived in Nain, Jesus had compassion on her and asked her not to weep and made his son well. The other resurrection that Jesus performed which was the third resurrection was that of Lazarus at the requests made by his sisters Martha and Mary who were also women in the book of (John 11:43-44). For Lazarus to be resurrected it was the efforts of the women who were his sisters, at first Martha and Mary had sent for Jesus when Lazarus was ill and when he finally came, Lazarus had been dead for four good days and Martha pleaded with Jesus to resurrect him. Thus Jesus raised one person and the other two were raised at the request of women. In the case of Jairus daughter Jesus touched her corpse but in the case of Lazarus and the Widow’s son Jesus just used words to raise them. We can wonder why He chose to violate the the laws of the rituals of purity in order to help a woman and not men and also the message about his resurrection is revealed to a woman. Jesus is seen to violate the common code that was concerned with the relation between men and women when he found a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob and talked to her and yet the Jews were not allowed to talk to Samaritan women and a man would not also speak to a woman in public and once again the messianic nature of Jesus was also revealed to a woman. Jesus revealed himself as the â€Å"resurrection,† to Martha, the â€Å"risen one† and also revealed himself as the â€Å"messiah† which was his key role in his ministry to a woman again and she immediately bore witness of that fact to all the villagers that were around to come and see Jesus who was the messiah and this would seem like John the Gospel writer was trying to deliberately highlighting this event and clearly wished to reinforce thereby Jesus’ on the equal dignity of women to men that he saw. As the Samaritans approached Jesus was talking about the field and the sewers and the way people would reap what others had sown. He was speaking of the souls of men directly and he did it in general and not only Jesus in particular though it would seem like the evangelist was also meaning specifically to include the Samaritan woman among those Samaritans since he added the mentioned verse â€Å"Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman’s testimony†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . As far as marriage of women is concerned the most important stand of Jesus in relation to their dignity is his position on marriage. He had an unpopular attitude towards marriage though his stand highly sided monogamy and elimination of divorce since both the man and the woman were to have equal rights and responsibilities as they related with each other (Mk10:2; Mt. 19:3 New International Version) This is one of the instances that was rather thoroughly assimilated by the Christian church though it can be doubtless since it was reinforced by many sociological factors and historical accidents like the present strength of the Greek world of the Stoic philosophy though the notion of equal rights between man and woman and their responsibilities as far as marriage is concerned was not extended very far in the Christian marriage. Jesus had never thought of women as people who could only have their roles as in restricted terms such as only being a housekeeper like when he visited the house of Martha and Mary and Martha was taking the typical role of a woman of being in the house and preparing food for the visitors and complaining that Mary was not helping her and Jesus responded by treating Mary first as a person and applauded her for putting his service as the priority in her life and told her that she had chosen the better part compared to Martha and it was not to be taken from her. In short Jesus was trying to let people understand that Martha was not doing a bad thing but the way she had put her priorities was the problem that he had since he wanted women to know that women also have the right to engage themselves in intellectual life and also acquire religious authority and spiritual life just as men were called to. There is another instance in the bible in the gospel in the book of (Luke 11:27 Revised Standard Version) when a woman who was impressed with the way Jesus was teaching and she gave her compliment by mentioning the womb that bore Jesus and the breast that fed him and talked of how happy she would be to have a son like Jesus though it was not typical at that time for her to utter such a word since this reduced his sexual linage of a woman and Jesus felt it necessary to reject it by insisting on the personhood, the intellectual and the moral faculties of a woman by saying that blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Jesus has tried in so many ways possible to help people in whichever condition he has found them because even when he was busy teaching a group of men came to interrupt him with the issue of the woman that they wanted him to condemn for her actions of adultery. Jesus wanted to show the equality between men and women and mostly communicate the equal dignity of women and he did this through the parable of the woman and the lost coin and here Jesus projected God in a way that he put him as a woman when the despised tax collectors and the sinners were all gathered around him but the Pharisees and the scribes all complained about it. Jesus related three parables at a go and they all depicted that God was more concerned with those who were lost and the first story was that of the shepherd who left the ninety nine sheep for one sheep that was lost and the shepherd is God the second story is that of the woman and the lost coin and the woman is God and the third was that of the prodigal son where the father is God and in all this instances Jesus tries to portray a woman as a special being that has equal dignity to a man. A woman is still regarded as a dignified creature by Jesus Christ since there are other instances in Christian history where the Holy Spirit been associated with a feminine character that is woman like in the Syrian Didascalia where speaking of different offices in the church states that deaconess should be honored as the linage of the Holy Spirit. Giving the Holy Spirit a feminine lineage would give a rather negative result which would be a rather positive one since in many cases pictures show Jesus carrying the sheep on his shoulder as the shepherd, in the parable of the prodigal son the father takes the position of God the father and finally the woman who looks for the lost coin takes the position of God the Holy Spirit and if this interpretation has existed then it has not been common or maybe it might not be accepted by many people as far as male chauvinism is concerned. If there is lack of logic for the attribute of the general denigration of the culture of women of the pagan goddesses though Christian abhorrence of pagan gods has never resulted in a Christian rejection of God’s male linage. As far as the life of Jesus is concerned talking of his attitude in various events is quite hard to understand since his attitude changes from time to time and from event to event because if we take a look at his attitude towards the laws of the Old Testament then we should be in a position to point out that his attitude was not straight forward since he wanted almost everything to have new interpretations from the way they had already been written and that in another possible way he tried to strengthen the laws. The fact that Jesus ignored speaking the large or great towns in Galilee and using a wide imagery of rural areas in his teachings also tells a lot about his social character and are at variance with the predominantly urban character of the primitive church and it gives no reason that the church concerns have dominated the gospels in the ministry of Jesus. In other words dealing and coming to a conclusion about the attitude of Jesus since it changed a lot during his ministry and this is obscured for us by the orders of the events which are uncertain to talk about. It can be thought that Jesus was a charismatic innovator and was tamed by experience and maybe he began as a conventional and a man who abided in the laws and later on became disillusioned by the way the laws had to be applied since in adultery he extends the commandments by emphasizing the thoughts to actions, in loving the neighbors he extends to enemies and also performing a miracle on the Sabbath day bringing a controversy in the teachings had already been given out. It is therefore a fact to say that the attitude of Jesus is not something to come up with a conclusion to since the way it changes it brings about controversies in many possible ways in both his life and ministry at large. References Amba, M. (2001): Introducing African Women’s Theology. Pilgrim Press Ann, L. (1992): The Meaning of Gender in Theology. Problems and Possibilities. Batterd, J. (1995): Marriage, Sex and Violence in the Hebrew Prophets. Minneapolis. Fortress Press. Bright, H (1998): Hidden Voices: Biblical Women and Our Christian Heritage. Smith And Helwys. Dickey, P. (2000): Feminism Theology/ Christian Theology: In Search of Method. Elizabeth, F. (1993): Searching the scriptures. I. A Feminist Introduction. London King, U. (1995): Religion and Gender. Blackwell, Oxford Letty, M. (1985): Feminism Interpretation of the Bible Mollenkott, V. (1992): Men, Women and the Bible. New York Phyllis, T. (1978): God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Rosemary, R. (1995): New Woman New Earth: Sexist Ideologies And Human Liberation. Beacon Press. The Holy Bible, Luke 11:27 King James Version (KJV) The Holy Bible, John 11:42-43 King James Version (KJV) The Holy Bible, Luke 8:41 King James Version (KJV) The Holy Bible, John 8:1-11 King James Version (KJV) The Holy Bible, Romans 8:1 King James Version (KJV)

Marxist Literary Criticism Essay -- Literature Essays Literary Critici

   While literary critics do attempt to elaborate or develop ideas articulated by Karl Marx, it is important and necessary to make a distinction between Marx's specific socio-economic and political agenda and the body of literary theory which emerged years later. Marxist literary criticism proceeds from the fundamental philosophical assumption that "consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence...Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life" (Marx 568-9). Marxist critics use this challenge to the notion of an innate, prefigured, individual human nature to reexamine the nature of creative or literary authority.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Power seems to reside outside or beyond the bounds of humanity. Rather than dipping into a world of universal forms or expressing a subjective interior, artists and their work are determined by the web of power relations in which they exist; literature is thus inescapably tethered to a continuum of socio-political concerns. Hegemony is the term most often used by Marxist critics to describe this continually renegotiat...

Freedom Writer S Film Review Essay

The film, Freedom Writers, directed by Richard LaGravenese captured the lives of underrepresented and at risk students whom lived in Long Beach, California, that were born into gang life and didn’t see their lives past than age eighteen. Erin Gruwell was a passionate young teacher keen on social change. Wanting to make a difference, she decided to teach at the newly voluntarily integrated Woodrow Wilson High School. The movie’s portrayal of stereotypes was emphasized through its technical aspects, the recurring themes of segregation and racial profiling, and the characterizations of individuals, while at the same time, the humor in the film was able to keep it lighthearted and enjoyable for the audience. The main theme of the movie â€Å"Freedom Writers† was about the prevalence of racism in public school and breaking away from the stereotypes. In the beginning of the movie, the students that were in Mrs. Gruwell’s class were clearly segregated from each other and isolated themselves into cliques. Gang wars were a part of their daily lives. The wars stemmed from older generations teaching and portraying that violence and hatred was normal. Growing up, the kids were raised to hate and fight anyone, even in school, that was a different race from them. While the other teachers had given up on these students, Mrs. Gruwell saw their true potential. Her classroom became a place where students could feel physically and emotionally safe. This film’s social relevance pertains to today. Although as a society we have improved, racial tension and gang violence still exist in public schools, but it’s important to recognize that those students are not hopeless causes. They may be considered the outsiders, but their backgrounds make them strong enough to overcome the stereotypes that have been placed on them, obtain an education, and invite change into their communities. The value of this film was teachers shouldn’t judge, or give up, on students no matter their background. Teachers need to see that these students just need a chance to show that they are capable. With the 1992 Rodney King Riots of Los Angeles in the not-so-far past, the plot of Freedom Writers became very realistic. The racial tension in the Los Angeles area had reached an all time high. This racial tension carried over into Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom. The Blacks, Latinos, and the Cambodians had all segregated. It wasn’t hard to realize that could have very well have been what many high schools in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area looked like after the 1992 riots. The way Mrs. Gruwell brought the students together did not seem realistic. When you’ve been in rival gangs for the majority of your lives, it seems like it would have been hard to be brought together over a few journal entries and a trip to the Museum of Tolerance. However, we did not grow up in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area during that time period, so we’ve no idea what the situation was like for those kids. Overall, the film was well assembled and the plot was convincing and believable. Freedom Writers had a mission. Nothing about the film was subliminal, and the characterizations were blatant. They could have helped or hurt the film’s message. The characterizations were warring factions with a mutually bred hatred for each other. The primary metaphor was war between the ghetto, little Tijuana, little Cambodia, and white people. Everyone fought for their own people, but never their own identity as they were willing to throw their lives away to be â€Å"respected†. The stereotypes of each ethnicity defined the characters at first, but as the story progressed, their characterizations became more unique and tragic. Both society and the teachers looked down upon these kids, never expecting them to go anywhere in life. The stereotypes placed upon the youths of Long Beach brings empathy from the audience because they can somewhat compare to being looked down upon. So through the horrible environment you understand the kid’s stagnancy and ignorance, but also their will to survive. With such a hard hitting subject matter and great performance, the film provoked emotions such as understanding, sympathy, inspiration, and discontent with the education system. At the beginning of the movie, you hardly ever see any of the Blacks, Latinos, or Cambodians in the same scenes. LaGravenese does this to show the racial tension that existed in Long Beach following the 1992 Rodney King riots. The different ethnic groups were only in the same scenes when they were fighting. Scenes shot in Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom did not even show different racial groups in the same shot. Once Mrs. Gruwell broke down the racial barriers at the end of the movie, LaGravenese then started to show all the students in the same scenes. LaGravenese also used lighting to help emphasize the racial divide. At the beginning of the movie, the scenes are very dark. As the movie progressed and Mrs. Gruwell began to tear down the racial divide, her classroom became lighter. She always had the blinds open and flowers scattered around the room to emphasize peace and tranquility. The choice of background music for the film subtly helped to show how the racial divide in Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom was eventually broken. At the beginning of the film, music by Tupac that talked about violence, suffering, and living in poverty was played. By the end of the movie, LaGravenese played some of Tupac’s music about hope, wealth, and prosperity. This music was played once Mrs. Gruwell had finally torn down the racial divide between the different ethnicities. The film captures the viewpoints of several students in the classroom, each fighting their own personal battle all the while capturing the relationship that is being formed between each other. With determination and passion brought by Ms. Gruwell, the students are focused on the phrase â€Å"Toast for Change,† and being a hero although just an ordinary teenager. The film’s value is to open the eyes of the audience to understand their surroundings and realize that there is much opportunity for one to make a difference just as Ms. Gruwell did as a teacher and just as her students did in each others lives. To conclude, Freedom Writer’s wonderfully portrayed how a group of students, with the help of their teacher, were able to drop their previous stereotypes and hatred of each other to live peacefully. This hatred was derived from generations of gang wars based on ethnicity, and although each teen fought for their people, they had their own personal battles as well. As students were able to open up more to Ms. Gruwell about their lives, they realized they weren’t all that different from each other. This helped form the close relationship of Classroom 203. The stereotypes of each group of students masked the identities of each individual, which invoked feelings of sympathy and disbelief from the general public. Different styles of Tupac’s music and the way scenes were shot helped to subliminally explain the divisions between ethnic groups and how they became united. While the film may not be the most theatrically beautiful, the message it gives holds a priceless value.

The Medical Tourism Industry In India - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2423 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Health Essay Type Descriptive essay Tags: Health Care Essay Did you like this example? Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Medical tourism 2.1.1 Introduction to Medical tourism The word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Medicalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? means treatment of illness, disorder or injuries. In general, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Tourismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? means traveling for pleasure. According to World Tourism Organization(WTO), the word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Tourismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? compromises of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the activities of persons traveling to and staying in place outside their usual environment for leisure, business and other purposes.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Understanding of word medical and tourism individually is not sufficient to define Medical Tourism. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Medical Tourism Industry In India" essay for you Create order Medical Tourism is combination of various and definite activities and clear understanding of such activities is essential. (Dr Prem, medical tourism) Considering the above sets of definitions, the following can be observed: When a person travels across the border and outside their usual environment, to seek medical service, the travel portion of the trip travel is called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“medical travelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, and upon arrival, such person is called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“medical touristà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, and such activities which includes utilization of medical services by the medical tourist, be it direct or indirect hospitality, cultural exposure or site-seeing, is called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Medical Tourismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Hence, Medical Tourism could be defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Medical Tourism is the set of activities in which a person travels often long distance or across the border, to avail medical services with direct or indirect engagement in leisure, business or other purpose s.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Medical travel refers to the international phenomenon of individuals traveling, often great distances, to access health care services that are otherwise not available due to high costs, long waiting lists or limited health care capacity in the country of origin. (UNESCAP, 2007) Five key driving the increased popularity of medical tourism: Technology Technological improvements drive medical tourism, like more efficient global transportation and communication systems. The flattening of the world through the Internet and technology in medical industry are improving the quality of services. Patient access to health information on the Internet has increased knowledge and choices. Electronic communications and exchange of health information are faster and easier. Cost When patients dont have health insurance or their health insurance does not pay for all the care they need, the cost of the care is shifted to those patients with health insurance. This is kn own as Cost Shifting. The competition in industry is not operating on the proper objectives. The focus should be on providing care to patients, not to gain economy of other countries or build the tourism sector from needy to sick patients. Moreover, the cost of medical treatment in developed countries is extremely high. Hence, private, social and corporate health schemes are very costly. The above pay model is shifting to individuals. Therefore, Cost is another driving factor. Need The emergence of the new consumer needs, like avoiding waiting queues to get medical treatment or the possibility to have the latest medical treatment, requires new solutions which are not available in consumerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s home country. So, Need is another driving factor. Change Hospitals are adopting the more luxury hotel concept rather than a traditional unexciting general wards. After the surgical procedure, there is the opportunity to engage in attractive tourism, which is certainly a better change for patient. For example, a patient may take a safari trip in South Africa after an orthopedic surgery, a Taj Mahal trip after eye surgery in India, and a Mayan cultural experience after cosmetic surgery in Mexico. Hence, Change is another key factor. Demographics Demographic drivers such as an aging population due to baby boomers causing significant strain on national healthcare system are a driving factor. 2.1.2 Why choose India? Medical tourism or health tourism is on a rise in India. It is starting to be considered as one of the most attractive locations for medical tourism. As per a research report à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Booming Medical Tourism in Indiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Indiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s medical tourism industry is going to grow by 27% in the time period 2009-2012. In 2007 alone, India received 450,000 medical tourists and is expected to receive close to 1.1 million medical tourists in 2012. Currently India has 16 JCI Accredited Hospitals across the country. Some of the most sought after procedures by medical tourists in India are alternative medicine, bone-marrow transplant, cardiac bypass surgery, eye surgery, orthopedic surgery, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or Infertility Treatment and dental procedures (such as dental implants, veneers etc.) commonly known an Dental tourism. Cosmetic surgery or cosmetic procedures and dental tourism are on a rise in India as well. So what are the reasons to choose I ndia as your medical tourism destination? Country No. of Foreigners treated in (2002) From Strength Thailand 6,00,000 USA, UK Cosmetic surgery, organ transplant, dental treatments, Joint Replacement Jordhan 1,26,000 Middle East Organ Transplants, Fertility treatments, cardiac care India 1,00,000 Middle East, UK, USA Cardiac care, Joint replacement Malaysia 85,000 USA, Develop countries Cosmetic Surgery South Africa 50,000 USA Cosmetic Surgery, Dental Treatment First and foremost is the cost factor. The cost savings are immense. As per the report by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Booming Medical Tourism in Indiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, medical tourist can save up to 60%-95% on their treatment cost by getting their treatment done in India. The second most important factor according to me is the technology and international standards. Top Hospitals and healthcare facilities in India have the latest equipment and technology, which is a t par with the medical facilities in the developed world. With the rise in medical tourism, more and more hospitals are investing in the latest equipments and getting internationally recognized certifications, such as JCI. As per Deloitte report, India has 10 JCI certified hospitals in 2007, and in 3 years India has added 6 more to the list. The doctors in India have the expertise, which again is at par with the doctors in the developed countries. Today Indian doctors in every field are recognized in the world community for their work and contributions. Most of the doctors working in the big name hospitals have degrees and certifications from US and Europe. Medical tourist get priority treatment in Indian hospitals as opposed to waiting for weeks or even months in their own country. This is a huge advantage as patients wanting to undergo say a hip or a knee replacement will have to bare the pain till they are not scheduled for treatment, which sometimes can take up to 3 months . No language barrier. As English is one of the most used languages in India, medical tourists donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t feel lost in this country. Also, if you are from a non-English speaking country, translators are provided to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Due to its beautiful culture, history and increased reorganization and popularization of yoga, Ayurveda and meditation more and more people are flocking to India for mental and physical peace. Andhra Pradesh is one of the most prominent state in India for medical tourism as many of the big name medical centers have opened their facilities in this city. Other cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad are quickly catching up to attract international patients. Andhra Pradesh is considered to be the 5th largest state in India and the largest State in South India. It has a population of 76, 210, 007 and a literacy rate of 45.11% (Andhra Pradesh tourism, 2010). It has become a major IT hub. However its gro wth with respect to the medical tourism is very slow. Andhra Pradesh is very popular for many non-invasive therapies like Yoga and Ayurveda. Apart from these tow alternative therapy, naturopathy, traditional healing systems also play major role in developing medical tourism in the state. Recently it is competing with other states as some world class hospitals are established in the state. Some of the examples for these are Apollo hospitals, L V Prasad eye hospital, Nizamia general Hospital etc (India line, 2010). It is stressed that the medical tourism is not achieving prospects in Andhra Pradesh when compared to departments, IT and biotechnology. The failure in the medical tourism in Andhra Pradesh is attributed to the lack of synergy between the health and tourist department. It is further noticed that, the number of foreign patients coming to Andhra Pradesh is just not even 1% to that of Bangkok (Hindu, 2010). It is clearly stated by many hospitalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ directors tha t the Government has to take necessary strategic approach in order to improve medical tourism in Andhra Pradesh. Apollo, Wockhardt, Fortis Healthcare, Max India, The Global Hospitals Group, MIOT Hospitals and some of the prominent hospitals catering to medical tourists. Apart from this, there are a large number of small clinics such as eye clinics, dental clinics, hair loss clinics, IVF clinics, message and spa clinics that exist across the country that are catering to medical tourist who are interested in elective surgery. (Nikhil Lamba, ClinicsOfWorld) 2.3 Collaboration and Partnership Medical tourism operators can be divided into two groups. First, there are medical centers such as hospitals and clinics. Medical centers that actively attract international patients are not involved only in the medical procedure itself, but are, in many cases, also responsible for all patient logistics from arrival to departure. Often the hospitals involvement already starts before arrival with the processing of the visa requirements and only ends after departure with patient follow up. The second group consists of medical tourism facilitators who function like agents and associated service providers. These are often smaller companies with just a few people on their payroll and most of them have spread their risk by dealing with hospitals and clinics in a number of different countries. Those medical tourist agents which are dealing exclusively with hospitals of only one country or region are exposed to the same risks as the hospitals with whom they work. These facil itators offer global health care options that will enable international patients, primarily from the United States of America and Europe, to access world health care at a fraction of the cost of domestic care. By selling a type of medical value travel, they focus particularly on the self-insured patient. Some companies charge clients a flat rate commission or a percentage of the total cost of care. Others do not directly charge customers, but are paid by the hospitals to which their clients travel for care. Health care travel packages can include all costs associated with medical care, air and ground transportation, hotel accommodation, use of a cell phone in the destination country, practical assistance from a local company representative at the health care facility, travel arrangements for a companion, stays in nearby resorts during the post-operative recovery period and side trips to tourist destinations. 2.4 Promotional Strategies Corporate hospitals in Andhra Pradesh brought in five-star facilities and hi-tech medicine. Both the state administration and the corporate sector see the benefits of synergy for profits and have hence evolved separate as well as combined promotional strategies (Qadeer 2009; Gupta 2006). The state is proposing Medical Tourism in its own institutions. It invests directly in infrastructure and tourism to push its policy support to the corporate sector in earning foreign exchange by treating Medical Tourism as a trade. This encourages all the players directly or indirectly involved in Medical Tourism to invest and expand their businesses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" corporate hospitals, the aviation industry, private tour services, travel operators, the hotel and hospitality industries (Qadeer 2009; Gupta 2006). The state has several interests behind its promotional strategies for Medical Tourism. One is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“medical diplomacyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? to strengthen international relationships and friendships with neighbouring countries. Behind this seeming altruism lies the motive of enhancing economic growth, by not only commodifying medical care and supporting the private medical industry but also promoting investments in sectors supportive of MT. These include the Indian Healthcare Federation, private and public insurers, policy institutions, and the industry players mentioned above (CII-McKinsey 2002). Tie-ups within the hospitals, hotels and tour operators are being promoted and are on the rise (CII-McKinsey 2002). Hyderabad, capital city of Andhra Pradesh has opened international airports and now offer direct flights from abroad to ease travel for patients. Yashoda hospital in Hyderabad has an airport kiosk and is planning a helipad on the terrace to airlift their patients (Shaffi et al 2007). Asia has become a prominent destination for global medical tourists. Within it, India has a relative advantage, and Andhra Pradesh is evident from the institutions invo lved and the services offered as well as the low cost of treatment (Qadeer 2009; Gupta 2006). Its so-called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“win-win situationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? however, is based on the assumption that services for the haves and have-nots are totally independent of each other and the disconnect is rational. It is this very assumption that is flawed. In its effort to fill its coffers through MT, the government has underplayed the obvious contradiction between a vast uncared à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" for majority and an unethical focus on profits through MT (Shaffi et al 2007). It has ignored many of the underlying negative implications of MT such as shift of subsidies to the private sector and extremely low inputs in public sector healthcare (Roy Choudhury and Dutta 2004). India has 16% of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s population, 18% of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s mortality and 20% of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s morbidity and our public expenditure on health is still 1% of gross domestic prod uct (GDP). Budget 2010 is no different from the previous years (Bali 2010) (Qadeer 2009; Gupta 2006). Added to this is the incoming evidence of inequity and rising costs of medical care. The huge gap permitted between thesalary scales of public and private professionals has encouraged the movement of personnel from the former to the latter. This is particularly true of the shortage of nurses in the public sector, who are leaving for private and overseas jobs (Shaffi et al 2007). Attracted by the higher scales and an open system of consultancy, experienced specialists too are moving away from public sector. While experienced doctors in the public sector are allowed to work in private institutions that benefit from their experience and fame, the government has no innovative policy to retain competent professionals or to regulate salaries and employment conditions across sectors (Qadeer 2009; Gupta 2006). Marginalising the concept of comprehensive primary healthcare by limitin g primary-level care to at best First Referral Units (FRUs) and district hospitals denies tertiary care to the less-privileged unless they are ready to sell off their assets. This is reflected in the burden of debt due to illness treatment, which has increased to 40% of the total debt as per the 52nd round National Sample Survey (2000). Another critical dimension of this growing industry is the probable impact it has on the countries it serves. Already there are concerns expressed in the US. Asian MT is seen differently by different stakeholders. The insurance companies and medical Organizations see its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“outsourcing potentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? for lowering their own costs and enhancing profits. The uninsured and those who cannot afford their own private services see it as an opportunity. The state sees it as a mechanism for savings and as a price control mechanism in its medical market (Qadeer 2009; Gupta 2006).