Healthcare at Crossroads: FICCI Heal 2018 addresses key issues in Indian healthcare

NEW DELHI: Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Mr J P Nadda here today said that the government was keen to formalise a multi-stakeholder forum to arrive at policy decisions and formulate implementable strategies to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all.

He was addressing FICCI HEAL 2018 with the theme ‘Healthcare at Crossroads’, jointly organised by FICCI and NITI Aayog.

 “There is no formal structure for policy interaction and very soon we will have a forum where multi-stakeholders will join hands with the government for policy decisions and program implementation plans,” he said and added that such synergies would be important to achieve a hepatitis-free India by 2030.

The Minister added that Ayushman Bharat (Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojna) looks at health holistically with twin pillars Health and Wellness Centres for comprehensive Primary Health Care and financial protection for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

“Ayushman Bharat is a historic decision and has two pillars of preventive and promotive healthcare and converting 1.5 lakh sub-centres and PHCs into health and wellness centre. All support should be given to health centres to ensure preventive care. For this, we are going for universal health screening at the age of 30. This is a paradigm shift as far as health care is concerned and this is one area where the private sector can come in.”

He said that healthcare services should also be credible accompanied by affordability, accessibility and quality.

Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Government of India said that as course correction in healthcare take place, quality and ethics will be the guiding force. He urged the private sector to engage with the government in providing quality care at reasonable rates, monitored by the government. He said, “PMJAY is not possible without the engagement of the private sector. We need to create a pipeline of specialists and private sector can help in filling that gap.”

Ms Sangita Reddy, Vice President, FICCI and Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. in her welcome address, said, “With the launch of Ayushman Bharat, India is no longer at crossroads. Healthcare has entered the Universal Collective Super Highway.”

Setting theme of the conference, (Hony) Brig. Dr Arvind Lal, Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee and CMD, Dr Lal Path Labs said that in order to ensure appropriate costs for procedures covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaAbhiyaan while maintaining the quality of services, it is important to derive rational and sustainable package rates derived by a scientific costing exercise. “There is a strong need to understand costs from the perspective of all relevant stakeholders- the government, the providers and the consumer.”

Prof. (Dr.) Dinesh Bhugra, CBE, President, British Medical Association said that there is need to shift the focus from secondary healthcare and hospitals to primary care. There is also a need to change the way we train the next generation of doctors and medical students.

The Minister and other dignitaries also released FICCI knowledge paper ‘Demystifying Healthcare Costs: A Scientific Approach’ and FICCI Code of Ethics for the Health Services Industry.

A major concern that the healthcare sector is facing today is the rising trust deficit – between the private sector and the government as well as between the provider and the patient. FICCI recognises the need for transparency and accountability in the functioning of all healthcare establishments – whether private or public.

Hence, the FICCI Task Force on Accountability, along with the stakeholders from the government and industry, has developed a ‘Code of Ethics for the health services industry’, which encourages members to voluntarily and collectively commit to ethical professional conduct for patient care.  Already, 7 other Associations, with more than 30,000 institutional and individual members; and more than 15 health care organizations from across India, have endorsed the FICCI Code of Ethics.

Dr V K Paul was presented the FICCI White Paper ‘Demystifying Healthcare Costs’, a scientific approach in which ten clinical procedures were covered in nine hospitals that included two government hospitals for arriving at India’s first scientific costing methodology.

Mr. Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI; Mr Varun Khanna, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee and Executive VP. Fortis Healthcare; Ms Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Assistant Secretary-General, FICCI were also present during the inaugural session.