Correct regulation and clarity needed for telemedicine
Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for a private-public partnership (PPP) to make the COVID-19 vaccine work at an affordable price.
“We will have to work in a PPP to make the vaccine work, it cannot solely be the effort of a single sector to ensure the vaccination of 1.3 billion people,” he told the CII Asia Health 2020.
“Ensuring vaccines are available at an affordable price to one and all is going to be a responsibility on all of us.
“India will play an important role in ensuring cost-effective and innovative solutions for the rest of the world,” assured the Minister.
But private players need to establish a code of conduct and the healthcare sector needs to re-calibrate, re-examine and rejuvenate its offerings, according to Suhel Seth Chairman, CII Committee on Branding & Founder and Managing Partner Counselage.
“The role of private healthcare is very important,” he added.
Most tertiary care is taken care of by the private healthcare system. Also, India needs 1,000 AIIMS which will not be possible for the government alone, he elaborated.
The trust issue in the healthcare sector related to inflated bills and not providing good quality treatment is not a systemic issue to the sector as it is restricted only to a handful of healthcare providers, said Seth.
There needs to be sector-wise and category wise trust-building in the healthcare sector. The irony in the healthcare sector is that public hospitals are trusted but not visited and vice versa for private hospitals, he pointed out. This needs to be changed.
“In order to eliminate trust deficit, we need to have more stories of healthcare heroism out in the open, healthcare companies need to build healthcare code of conduct and there needs to be transparency in communication,” he said.
Correct regulation and clarity are needed for financial investment to come in especially in the telemedicine segment, said Vishwanathan NS, CFO Mfine, calling on the government to draft regulation for e-pharmacy clearly.
Unless there are proper regulations and clear financial investments, telemedicine will attract investors, according to Dr. Rana Mehta Senior Partner and Healthcare Lead PWC.
Pharma Industry is India’s 3rd largest in volume and 13th largest in value but it is fragmented, he pointed out.
A strong collaboration between academic research and industry has been witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dr. Renu Swarup Secretary Department of Biotechnology Ministry of Science and Technology.
The Indian government is currently focusing on strengthening the research ecosystem by focusing on the building of immuno-assay labs, strengthening facilities within academic and research centers for animal studies setting up robust labs to facilitate clinical trials, she told the conference.
“COVID-19 allowed us to repurpose our industry to make PPEs, ventilators and brought together all the sectors for the delivery of healthcare,” added Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII National Council on Healthcare & Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta – The Medicity.
“We are not only meeting the demands for the consumption of India but also exporting to 235 countries.
“India will become a manufacturing hub and deliverer of best quality of healthcare at affordable costs,” stressed Dr. Trehan. CII Asia Health 2020 Experts from the USA, UK, Singapore, Israel, Russia, Bhutan, Maldives, Angola, and many other countries deliberated on thought leadership and discussed Health, Technology, Ayurveda at the CII Asia Health 2020 held 18-20 Nov 2020. #exports #manufacturing #investment #health /fiinews.com
