Hospitals in the country are expanding rapidly and updating themselves continuously to serve better and stay in the race, according to Dr Prathap Reddy, Founder and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group; and Chairman, CII National Health Council.

“To survive the healthcare market competition and growth, hospitals today are training and continuously updating themselves on current issues, challenges and the best methods to reach out to and serve their patients better,” a release said, citing Dr Reddy at Healthex 2011 on Friday.

He also chairs Healthex, CII's annual event on medical equipment supplies and services. The three-day event showcases medical equipment and technology that are affordable and reliable.

The release cited the Investment Commission of India's study that the healthcare sector was growing at a phenomenally high 12 per cent a year in the last four years. It was expected to become a Rs 12-lakh-crore industry by 2020. The growth was expected to be driven by factors such as rising life expectancy, rising income levels of Indian families, increasing penetration of health insurance and rising incidence of lifestyle-related diseases.

The Rs 9,000-crore medical equipment industry was growing at 30 per cent. Hospitals and nursing homes were growing at 20 per cent and are now part of a Rs 54,000-crore industry.

Dr E.V. Ramana Reddy, Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka, inaugurated the expo and conference that will focus on healthcare infrastructure and management.

Describing the domestic healthcare sector as a progressive and dominant service sector, Dr Ramana Reddy suggested that the country's Vision-2020 should aim for ensuring affordable healthcare system to the rural poor. Karnataka, he said, was the first State to provide comprehensive public health service through primary health centres.

According to Air Vice-Marshal Pankaj Tyagi, Principal Medical Officer, IAF's Headquarters Training Command, private and public sectors should work together in public interest. “The rapid technical changes in the recent past and the commitments of the Army Medical Corps Services to provide a cradle-to-grave service has necessitated diversification in the fields hitherto unexplored in many military medical services,” he added.

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