“Issuance of health cards will be a game-changer in bringing
us closer to universal healthcare,” said Mr 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, today.
The health cards for all citizens that the
government proposes to implement would cover the entire population,
the Minister added. Mr 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.
Mr 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 US$ 150 billion and is growing at 22 per
cent CAGR to reach US$ 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.
Mr 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.
Ms 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.
Dr 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.
Mr 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.
3 February 2017
New Delhi