New Delhi: Ayushman Bharat architect Dr Vinod Paul has fervently appealed that Private Healthcare Sector should adequately join PM Modi’s flagship program and acquiesced in a sober fact that government alone cannot implement it.
On the other hand NATHEALTH, Healthcare Federation of India, said with one voice that Private Health Sector is ready to join government in realizing vision of Universal Health Coverage. They expected government to reciprocate in a reasonable way to take them along.
NATHEALTH– two-day 6th Annual Summit on ‘Reimagining Collaboration to Strengthen India’s Healthcare Growth Trajectory,’ kicked off on November 28 achieving a milestone by bringing the voice of healthcare onto one platform. Dr Vinod Paul, Honourable Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Chief Guest of the event presented the Inaugural address and Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO, National Health Authority was the keynote speaker at the event. NATHEALTH presented a representation to govt. on key reform ideas that will unlock the potential around Ayushman Bharat, investments and UHC, quality, skilling and healthcare innovation.
On day 1 of the Annual Summit, NATHEALTH announced support of distinguished industry bodies CII, Association of Healthcare Providers (India), FICCI, Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC), ASSOCHAM and PHD Chamber of Commerce.
The summit brought together the entire gamut of players, decision-makers, domain experts and academicians to reimagining collaboration to strengthen India’s healthcare growth trajectory. The inaugural session of the Summit witnessed several other announcements, which would shape the future of Indian healthcare.
Welcoming the guests and delegates, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, President NATHEALTH & Chairman, Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, reaffirmed that Government and industry need to work together to realize the Prime Minister’s vision of Health for All. NATHEALTH is living up to its core mission of collaborating with all stakeholders and bringing the voice of the industry to one forum.
Dr Ballal also presented a five-point agenda which included galvanizing NATHEALTH resident knowledge and expertise to provide innovative solutions, Mobilising partners from India and outside, Informing & shaping healthcare policies and government regulations to serve diverse stakeholders, Advocating the cause of Healthcare sector participants via sustained communication and education campaigns and catalyze innovation in Healthcare by bringing industry and private sector experience and resources together and mentor start-ups.
For transparency and ethical practices in the healthcare sector, NATHEALTH- Indian Medical Association reinforced its Ethics Code and the leadership committed that the Federation will disseminate it widely across the industry and work with other federations and industry members to drive acceptance. An expert group will be set up to monitor and drive this adoption and dissemination
Ms Preetha Reddy, Senior Vice President, NATHEALTH& Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group emphasised on the need for a “World-class Brand India for Healthcare”. She emphasized, “The importance for building trust between investors, policymakers and people seeking care whether from India or from outside cannot be undermined. The Indian Healthcare sector needs more investments and we can set up a health care investment promotion bureau as a PPP. This can initially be a single window for all industry to discuss with Government on reforms required to achieve UHC”.
The industry also suggested that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds could be used to push the critical segments such as preventive health, skilling and digital technologies. NATHEALTH expressed its willingness to pool industry CSR and work with Government and development sector partners to test innovative delivery models and create replicable pathways for scale.
NATHEALTH expressed its willingness to collaborate with government on the National Digital Health Mission (NHDM)and work with its collaborators to steer the digital health agenda in close collaboration with govt.,” Dr Ballal said.
Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Vice President, NATHEALTH & Founder and Chief Radiologist, Mahajan Imaging presented an industry memorandum of key issues and potential proposed solutions to the government. “The government needs to set up an empowered group to examine and resolve them under a single window. We need to be open and transparent while tackling challenges in a time-bound manner by bringing all decision-makers into one platform,” he added.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Badhri Iyenger, Secretary, NATHEALTH &Managing Director, South Asia – Smith & Nephew Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.said, “There is a need for stable, predictable and long term policy roadmap that allows open and fair marketplace. The industry seeks long-term high-quality regulations that are rule-based at par with global standards and processes. NATHEALTH is willing to build the competencies and processes jointly by working with Government.
Dr Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Secretary General, NATHEALTH, reinforced, “As we meet today, we stand at crossroads of time as India’s healthcare is ready for change. The path to achieve this challenging goal hinges on collaboration, where all the key industry stakeholders can come together, deliberate, cooperate and work in tandem to bridge the vital gaps in service delivery. True to the theme of the event- this will require integration, collaboration and re-imagination of all healthcare stakeholders at an unprecedented scale. NATHEALTH stands committed to playing this role to drive the different players towards this common goal and shape a unified healthcare ecosystem voice”
