“Issuance of health cards will be a game-changer in bringing us closer to universal healthcare,” said Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. He was speaking at HealthTech India, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at the 22nd CII-International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF) at New Delhi, on Friday (February 03).
The health cards for all citizens that the government proposes to implement would cover the entire population, the Minister added.
Kulaste highlighted that Budget 2017-18 substantially increased the outlay for the health sector to speed up health for all in a shorter timeframe.
It is important, he said, that all stakeholders in the health sector are brought into a single platform to evolve strategies to extend health for all in a given time frame.
The Minister also called for new IT based technologies to bridge healthcare gaps, particularly in the rural and tribal areas. “Globally, there have been breakthroughs in IT technologies which are being used as health tools to reach out to the people. India should increasingly tap these possibilities to take healthcare to the doorstep of 1.3 billion people in the country,” the Minister said.
C K Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, announced that rules and regulations for medical devices sector have been brought out as requested by industry for augmenting indigenous production. “Government is open to suggestions on the rules and regulatory framework for medical devices and will take course corrections if required,” the Secretary said.
The Secretary also called for low cost health solutions, particularly for drugs and diagnostic expenses that constitute close to 70 per cent of healthcare expenditure. He stated that the healthcare industry is presently estimated at $150 billion and is growing at 22 per cent CAGR to reach $ 280 billion soon. Government initiatives such as mother-and-child programs have delivered notable results, with 85 per cent women covered and 15 crore receiving iron tablets.
He requested for greater engagement of industry in developing technology apps for outreach to rural and remote populations.
Kenji Hiramatsu, Japanese Ambassador to India, said that Japan was keen to enter the medical devices segment in India, where it has superior technologies. Japan is also involved in training the health regulators, doctors, nurses and various universities in the country. Japan is collaborating with Indian universities and prestigious institutes in carrying out various studies.
Shobana Kamineni, President-Designate, CII and Executive Vice-Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, said that 100 exhibitors are participating at the Health Tech India. The objective of the sectoral exhibition coinciding with the IETF was to help boost the Indian medical devices sector. Presently, 70 per cent of the medical device requirements are imported.
Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII Healthcare Council and CMD, Medanta – the Medicity, wanted a strong platform of stakeholders in healthcare for continuous dialogue rather than them working in silos. This, he said, would bring about qualitative changes in the healthcare landscape and help India to achieve universal healthcare faster.
Himanshu Baid, Chairman, CII Medical Technology Division and MD, Poly Medicure Ltd, has welcomed the Government’s recent decision to roll out the rules and regulations governing medical devices and hoped that the comprehensive Act covering the entire spectrum of healthcare would be evolved soon.
BW Reporters
Vaishali Dar is a Senior Associate Editor with BW Businessworld and Editorial Head with BW Disrupt. She writes on corporates, start-ups, hospitality and travel
