Treatment at hospitals in India: a guide for patients in Uganda

The Indian medical visa

e-Medical Visa

Ugandan passport holders can apply for India's e-Medical Visa online, without attending the High Commission in person to lodge the application. Uganda is entry 163 on the official eligibility list. One thing to know before you start, in the High Commission's own words: it "does not have access to eVisa applications and is not in a position to advise about or expedite the process or answer queries". The online visa is run by India's Ministry of Home Affairs, and there is a separate e-Visa helpdesk for problems with it. If an application stalls, the High Commission in Kampala is not the place to ring, and a patient waiting on a date can lose days finding that out. The approval letter is sent to the email address used in the application, so use an address you check and can still reach while travelling.

Apply on the official Indian e-Visa portal

Indian mission

• The High Commission of India in Kampala serves Uganda, and also Burundi.
• Plot No. 11, Kyadondo Road, Nakasero, P.O. Box 7040, Kampala.
• Telephone +256 41-4344631 and +256 41-4342994. The mission states that these are answered only between 14:00 and 16:00 on working days, so a call in the morning will not be picked up. For consular questions by email, [email protected].
• For a regular paper visa the mission asks for a minimum of three working days for Ugandan applicants, and longer for other nationalities or unusual cases. Because the online route is open to Ugandan passports, most patients will not need the mission at all.

Travelling with a family member

Two family members may come with you, each on an e-Medical Attendant Visa tied to your own medical visa. They are applied for on the same portal, and every person needs their own application, including children. Apply for the attendants at the same time as the patient rather than afterwards. The attendant visa depends on the patient's visa, so a late application is the part most likely to leave a family travelling apart.

Documents

• The portal asks for the passport bio page, a recent front-facing photograph on a white background, and a letter from the Indian hospital on its letterhead giving the date or the expected date of admission. The passport needs six months' validity and two blank pages, and you are asked for a return or onward ticket and evidence of sufficient funds.
• The High Commission adds one provision written for patients, and it is worth knowing about: someone who has been medically advised to avoid unnecessary movement may bring an original ink-signed letter from the hospital where they are being treated.
• Beyond that the mission publishes no Uganda-specific checklist for a medical visa, so we confirm the list in force with it and give it to you before you apply.

Visa rules differ by country and change often. Once a partner hospital accepts your case we arrange the hospital’s invitation letter and check the current rules with you before you apply.

Getting to India

Airports

Uganda's civil aviation authority separates airports from airfields, and lists two airports: Entebbe International and Kabalega International. Everything else on its list — Soroti, Tororo, Kasese, Mbarara, Kisoro, Lira, Gulu, Arua, Jinja, Pakuba, Moroto, Masindi and Kidepo — is an airfield or an airstrip. Entebbe is the one that matters for a journey to India. Kabalega is recent, and nothing the authority publishes shows scheduled international service from it yet.

Routes to India

• Uganda's own airline reaches India, which is not true of most countries we work with. Mumbai is one of the twenty destinations in Uganda Airlines' network, served from its base at Entebbe, and it appears in the airline's own booking system as Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
• We do not describe it here as a non-stop flight. The airline lists Mumbai as a destination but publishes no schedule or routing for it that we have been able to read, and whether a particular departure flies straight through is exactly the detail that matters to someone who is unwell. We confirm the routing, the stops and the timings with you when the flight is booked.
• Connections through Nairobi, Dubai or Addis Ababa also exist, and may suit a date better than waiting for the Mumbai service. We compare them with you rather than naming one here.

Before you travel, check your own government’s current travel advice and your airline’s flight status.

Money

Currency

The Uganda shilling, ISO 4217 code UGX, numeric code 800. The register records it with no minor unit, so there is no subdivision of the shilling in practice.

Before you travel

Health information

You will need a yellow fever vaccination certificate, and this is not a case where we have to leave the question open. India requires one from travellers aged nine months and over arriving from any of the countries it treats as yellow fever endemic, and the High Commission in Kampala names Uganda among them. The certificate has to be issued by an authorised yellow fever vaccination centre at least ten days before the date you arrive in India, and it counts for transit as well as arrival. The ten days are the part that derails journeys. If the vaccination has not been done, it has to happen before the final fortnight rather than in the week of the flight. Keep the certificate with the passport rather than in the luggage.

Treatments we coordinate

Our partner hospitals treat these conditions, among others. Where hospitals publish their own prices we show an indicative range; otherwise ask us for an estimate.

• Heart surgery
• Cancer treatment
• Orthopedics and joint replacement
• Spine and neurosurgery
• Kidney care and transplant
• Liver transplant
• Bone marrow transplant
• IVF and fertility treatment
• Neurology
• Eye surgery
• Cosmetic and plastic surgery
• Bariatric (weight-loss) surgery
• Dental care

Don't see your treatment? Send us your reports and we will ask the right specialists at our partner hospitals.

How it works

1. Send your medical reports.

   Share your reports and scans with us on WhatsApp, by email or through our form. Your doctor can also send them to us.

2. Receive a specialist opinion and cost estimate.

   Specialists at our partner hospitals review your reports. We send you their opinion, the treatment they recommend and a clear cost estimate.

3. We arrange your travel.

   We arrange the hospital's invitation letter for your medical visa and help you with flights, accommodation and airport pickup.

4. Treatment, return home and follow-up.

   We support you during treatment and recovery in India, and we stay in touch after you return home.

Our partner hospitals

We work with partner hospitals across India. Their specialists review the medical information on this website and discuss cases with referring doctors.

• Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru / Pune / Gurugram / DelhiJCI-accredited
• Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune
• Jehangir Hospital, Pune
• Ramaiah Hospital, BengaluruJCI-accredited
• Kauvery Hospital, BengaluruJCI-accredited
• Aster Medicity, BengaluruJCI-accredited
• Fortis Hospitals, Bengaluru / Gurugram / NoidaJCI-accredited
• Apollo Hospitals, Bhopal / Bengaluru / Delhi / ChennaiJCI-accredited
• Medanta
• Artemis Hospitals

Talk to us about treatment in India

Send us your medical reports whenever you are ready, or ask us a question first. Coordination is free for patients.

For referring doctors

If you refer patients for treatment in India, we work alongside you. You submit the case through our online case form, and a specialist from our partner hospitals can discuss it with you by video call on request. We keep you informed during your patient's treatment and after they return home, so you can continue their care.