The Hindu Business Line : Healthcare sector looks at innovation to improve access

Affordable healthcare: (From left) Mr Ranjit Shahani, President & Managing Director, Novartis India; Ms. Suneeta Reddy, Executive Director-Finance, Apollo Hospitals Group; Ms Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd; and Mr Shivinder Mohan Singh, Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, at the India Economic Summit in the Capital on Tuesday. - Kamal Narang

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New Delhi, Dec. 4 Providing affordable health care is an urgent issue for a country where 800 million people have a daily income of less than Rs 20 per day, said Ms Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon India.

Ms Shaw suggested that the Indian healthcare industry must look at developing low-cost diagnostics and innovate to improve healthcare delivery.

She was speaking during a panel discussion on ‘Global Healthcare: Tapping into India’s Centres of Excellence’ at the India Economic Summit with other leaders of the healthcare sector.

Healthcare for poor

Mr Shivinder Mohan Singh, CEO and Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare, said that the private sector should not be expected to subsidise healthcare for the poor and pointed out that they were not receiving any tax benefits, and that the responsibility to facilitate healthcare for the poor lay with the Government.

“According to a study 40 per cent of those who get admitted in hospitals pay through debt,” said Mr Singh.

Mr Girish Rao, Managing Director, Swiss Re Healthcare Services, also among the panellists, said that healthcare financing in India was a big issue that needed to be addressed urgently since dependence on private healthcare would increase.

Mr Ranjit Shahani, President and Managing Director, Novartis India, said that the industry and the Government are looking at innovative ways to deliver better healthcare.

There are 4,50,000 chemists in the country and 1,50,000 post offices in the country that are under utilised, and could be used to deliver over-the-counter drugs, he suggested.

Data mining

There are big opportunities for the Indian healthcare industry in data mining, given the genetic pool, the kinds of illnesses and diseases prevalent here, added Ms Sunita Reddy, Executive Director (Finance) Apollo Hospital.

Ms Reddy also suggested that the industry move towards preventive care and give a serious consideration to the idea of combining Ayurveda and other traditional sciences into their systems.

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