FICCI HEAL 2022: Public, private and govt should work together for universal healthcare

New Delhi, 12 October: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry organised its 16th annual healthcare conference- FICCI HEAL 2022 on the theme ‘Healthcare Transformation: Driving India’s Economic Growth’ on 11 October in New Delhi.

On the occasion, Chief Guest, Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha said that the health sector has to play a crucial role in achieving the objective of a USD 5 trillion economy. The health sector is intimately intertwined with health and economic growth.

He further invited everyone to work on the goal of universal healthcare, stating, “let us work together, public and private, centre and state, citizen and government for our collective dream of universal health care, affordable accessible, advanced and quality healthcare for our people.”

Talking about the revolution and expansion of health access in the last five to seven years, according to Dr. Sangita Reddy, Past President of FICCI and Joint MD of Apollo Hospitals, provide “a glimmer of optimism that universal health care will become a reality.” The pace of inclusion, involvement and the push toward universal health care in our country is here to stay, she said, referencing the eSanjeevani platform with six crore teleconsultations, approximately 17.7 Crore beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat, and 219 Crore COVID doses facilitated through the COWIN platform.

Further, Dr. Reddy identified three issues facing the business that requires the government to take action. First, she stated, was the designation of health as a “National Priority Status” in order to facilitate increased finance and infrastructure development. She also emphasized the importance of “support for hospitals that are established in tier three and tier four cities as well as rural India.” Her final point was that “healthcare must be able to enjoy the input tax credit through a zero rating or even a low rating of 3 to 5%.”

Additionally, Dr. V. K. Paul, a member of NITI Aayog, urged the private sector to assume more responsibility for PG training and to build infrastructure to meet the nation’s changing healthcare prospects and demands. He stated that the public sector cannot create the healthcare infrastructure independently.

The event also witnessed presence of Gautam Khanna, Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee & CEO, PD Hinduja Hospital & MRC; and Dr Harsh Mahajan, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Services among others.