The Hindu Business Line : Bengal urges private sector to invest in healthcare

THE West Bengal Government has urged the private sector to invest in the healthcare infrastructure in the State with a view to meeting the requirements of "those who can afford to pay for healthcare".

Speaking at a symposium on `Positioning Kolkata as the medical hub of eastern India', Dr Surya Kanta Mishra, Minister for Health & Family Welfare, also called upon the private sector to invest in healthcare education.

This would enable the Government to focus on "preventive, primary and promotive healthcare for those who cannot afford to purchase healthcare in a market economy."

Dr Mishra said that private sector initiatives are all the more important in a country where less than one per cent of the gross domestic product is spent on public healthcare.

Besides, the per capita out-of-pocket medical expenditure in the country was double the per capita Government spending on healthcare.

Dr Mishra said that the private sector must leverage the relatively low cost of healthcare in Kolkata and transform the city into a healthcare hub not only for the eastern and north-eastern regions but for neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, etc.

Dr Pranob Dasgupta, a medical practitioner in Kolkata, said that there was a huge gap between what the Government spends on public healthcare and what was required in the healthcare sector.

It has been estimated that in the next 10 years, private sector investment in excess of Rs 100,000 crore would be required in the domestic healthcare segment.

To facilitate private sector investment of this magnitude, it would be necessary to accord priority sector status to healthcare and allow incentives such as tax holidays, land at subsidised rates and reduced rates of Customs duty on imported equipment, among others.

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