Best Hospitals in Chennai for International Patients — An Honest Guide

Chennai is not the first city most African patients think of when considering treatment in India. Delhi comes to mind first — it is the capital, it is where Ethiopian Airlines flies direct, and it is where most medical tourism facilitators concentrate their hospital partnerships.

But for two specific categories of treatment, Chennai is the most important city in India for international patients. It has South Asia's only proton therapy facility. And it has one of Prime Medical's key transplant specialists.

Apollo Proton Cancer Centre, Chennai

The most important hospital in India for cancer patients who need proton therapy. There is no other proton therapy facility in South Asia — patients who need it and do not come to Apollo Proton Cancer Centre must go to Europe or North America.

JCI accredited. Opened in 2019. Equipped with an IBA Proteus One compact proton therapy system — the same technology used at proton centres in the US and Europe.

Dr. Rakesh Jalali is Medical Director and Lead of Neuro Oncology here. His 28 years of oncology experience and over 300 peer-reviewed publications — in journals including The Lancet, JAMA Oncology, and Journal of Clinical Oncology — make him one of the most credentialed radiation oncologists available to African patients anywhere in the world. He received the Best Oncologist Award from Medscape in 2014 and the Top Radiation Oncologist Award for three consecutive years from 2014 onwards.

Dr. Sapna Nangia is the radiation oncologist working alongside Dr. Jalali in the proton therapy programme. Together their team manages the full proton treatment workflow: treatment planning, beam delivery, response monitoring, and side effect management.

Dr. Prasad E coordinates cancer care more broadly at the centre.

What proton therapy is used for at this centre:

• Brain tumours — gliomas, meningiomas, craniopharyngiomas, skull base tumours
• Paediatric cancers — where reducing radiation to developing tissue is critical
• Head and neck cancers — nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal, salivary gland cancers
• Spinal and paraspinal tumours
• Re-irradiation cases where previous radiation limits the conventional dose
• Left-sided breast cancer where cardiac dose matters

What it is not used for: Proton therapy is not the answer for every cancer. For most cancers not in the above categories, conventional radiation at Delhi or Bengaluru hospitals achieves equivalent tumour control at lower cost and without the Chennai routing. Dr. Jalali's team reviews cases to determine whether proton therapy offers a meaningful clinical advantage for the specific presentation before recommending it.

Getting there from Africa:

• Dar es Salaam to Mumbai (direct, 5.5 hours) → Mumbai to Chennai (domestic, 1.75 hours). Total: under 8 hours from Dar es Salaam airport.
• Addis Ababa to Delhi (direct, 6.5 hours) → Delhi to Chennai (domestic, 2.5 hours). Total: approximately 10 hours including connection.
• Banjul via Casablanca or Addis Ababa to Chennai. Various routing, 14 to 18 hours.

Treatment duration: Proton therapy courses typically run five to seven weeks of daily Monday to Friday sessions. Patients and families need to plan accommodation in Chennai for the full treatment period. Prime Medical arranges accommodation near Apollo Proton Cancer Centre for international patients.

MGM Healthcare, Chennai

JCI, NABH, and NABL accredited. The full set of international quality certifications.

Dr. V Chandrasekaran leads transplant services at MGM Healthcare and is Prime Medical's designated transplant specialist. Dr. Chandrasekaran manages kidney and liver transplant cases for international patients from East Africa, West Africa, and the Middle East.

MGM Healthcare has a broad multi-specialty programme beyond transplant — cardiac care, orthopaedics, oncology with Dr. Prasad E and others, and general surgery. But it is the transplant programme under Dr. Chandrasekaran that makes MGM a specific destination recommendation for Prime Medical's network.

Why Chennai for transplant? The Dar es Salaam–Mumbai direct flight and the MGM Healthcare routing makes Chennai accessible for East African transplant patients in under nine hours of total travel time. For patients from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Mwanza, and Arusha, this is meaningfully shorter than routing through Delhi.

What transplant cases are managed here:

• Living donor kidney transplant
• Living donor liver transplant
• Post-transplant monitoring and management
• Complications management in the post-discharge outpatient phase

Getting there: MGM Healthcare is in central Chennai. From Chennai International Airport, approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Chennai as a City for Medical Treatment

Chennai is India's fourth-largest city and one of its main medical hubs. The city has a large number of hospitals — both government and private — serving a population of over 10 million and a significant medical tourism intake.

For international patients staying several weeks, Chennai has:

• Halal food widely available across the city
• Serviced apartments and hotel accommodation near both Apollo Proton and MGM Healthcare
• A coastal climate — warm and humid — broadly comparable to equatorial African cities
• An established community of international patients from the Middle East and East Africa

Chennai airport has direct international connections to Colombo, Singapore, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and via connections to East African cities through Mumbai.

Starting the Process

For cancer patients wanting proton therapy assessment: share biopsy, imaging, and current treatment plan with Prime Medical Solutions. Dr. Rakesh Jalali's team reviews within 48 hours and provides a written opinion on whether proton therapy would benefit the specific case.

For transplant patients: share kidney or liver function tests, imaging, and the potential donor's details. Dr. V Chandrasekaran reviews within 48 hours.

To book a consultation, call the number on our website.