Manufacture low cost medical devices: Govt to private cos

“The Centre is mulling to provide public facilities and other support to private sector for setting up clinics, medical schools, medical colleges and diagnostic facilities in order to supplement the efforts of the government in providing <g data-gr-id="43">healthcare</g> services,” Singh said while inaugurating FICCI HEAL 2015, the annual flagship healthcare conference of FICCI. Referring to Indian guidelines for treatment of diseases like Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus which also form the basis of the guidelines adopted by certain other countries, Singh said, “The changing spectrum of disease prevalence in the country required specifically oriented healthcare strategies involving all the <g data-gr-id="44">stake-holders</g> including medical professionals, pharma industry and public as well as private healthcare agencies.”

“The Indian society as a whole is fast evolving and at the same time in recent years, the country too has become a part of a shrunken global world and this phenomenon is impacting every sphere of life, including the healthcare system,” Singh said, adding, “On the one hand, disorders like diabetes and heart disease, which were hitherto confined to urban population, are now also on the rise in rural areas, while on the other hand, the access to modern facilities of treatment are confined 

only to cities.”

Referring to the gap in healthcare services delivery in urban and rural areas, Singh stated that there was a need for providing 600 million people in the rural areas with affordable health services. Rural areas largely remain without quality healthcare and lack equipment, and this issue merits attention immediately, the minister added.

Singh said that the Prime Minister’s call for ‘Make in India’ should also focus on ‘Make in India strategies for Indian healthcare’, aimed at management of diseases in the country, adding that there was a need for prioritization in <g data-gr-id="28">healthcare</g> delivery.

On the occasion, the minister along with other dignitaries released two papers, namely, FICCI-KPMG Thematic Paper on ‘Healthcare: The Neglected GDP Driver’ and FICCI-IMS ‘Health Knowledge Paper on ‘Raising Capital in Healthcare’.

Emphasising on the utilisation of new age technologies in health sector by leveraging the Digital India platform, FICCI’s Mentor on Public Policy and Economics Arvind Virmani said, “The Digital India platform should be leveraged to provide e-health, e-medicine and e-learning to rural areas. <g data-gr-id="37">Private</g> sector should help the government in making e-platforms more effective by strengthening public health systems.”

Stressing on <g data-gr-id="53">importance</g> of data and scientific analysis to derive at information, Virmani said, “The public health education has been long neglected and now it must be focused on. Earlier it was perceived India suffered from malnutrition due to lack of food and nutrition on food. But studies have shown that bad sewage systems leading to bad <g data-gr-id="50">sanitation,</g> was a major cause of malnutrition. Hence, it is essential to spread public health education.”

On the occasion, FICCI vice president Pankaj Patel said, “The national movement for ‘Swachh Bharat’ can be viewed as ‘Swastha Bharat’, as it comprises a series of public health initiatives. The FICCI believes that a ‘fourth layer, the pre-primary layer’, below the primary care needs to be created to ensure continuum of care for a billion plus population as the traditional <g data-gr-id="48">three tier</g> system has not delivered the desired result.”