Healthcare is a fast growing industry. Prevention and cure of diseases had always been a challenge to mankind. The only way to meet this challenge in a developing country like India is for both the government and the private players to work in tandem. With the growing concern over health and healthcare becoming increasingly costly, the role of the private players is immense. This was highlighted by speakers at the Indian Health Congress organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Hyderabad today as part of the HOSPIMedica India 2003 at the HITEX Fair Grounds.
Stressing the need for stepping up healthcare services to reach the poor and the needy, Dr Anji Reddy, Director-General of Health Services, Andhra Pradesh, spoke on what the government was doing, while Dr Geetha Reddy, president, AP Mahila Congress, said the government had its priorities wrong.
Dr Anji Reddy, in his inaugural address, said AP had several corporate hospitals comparable to the best in the world. He called for the delivery of efficient healthcare at affordable cost. Health services should not be considered as a commercial or business venture, he said.
While providing quality medical services, the industry should develop indigenous technology and help stop imports. This decade belonged to digital technology, telemedicine and bioinformatics and he hoped the interactions at the conference would be a learning experience for the participants.
Dr Geetha Reddy talked about the basic facilities that are being deprived to the poor who are languishing and are unable to bear the cost of treatment for any illness. She said the government was sanctioning more and more medical colleges without creating a proper infrastructure and a mechanism to enforce teaching standards.
Criticising the government for its wrong priorities, Dr Geetha Reddy said the government's performance statistics was impressive, but it remained only on paper. She said AP was one of the states with high incidence of leprosy, second highest in India for HIV/AIDS. It also tops in tuberculosis and blindness. One person dies of TB in every 15 minutes in the state. Of the 6 million blind people in India 1.5 million were in AP. And unfortunately 80-90 per cent of the government's spending on healthcare was taken away for paying salaries to the staff. The PHCs were without doctors, nurses, paramedical staff. Most of them had no buildings and functioned from thatched huts under unhygienic conditions.
She also called for private sector participation in a big way to provide healthcare to the rural poor. Narendra Surana, Chairman, FICCI, Andhra Pradesh, said the two healthcare services needed in India were EMS (emergency medical services) and clinical waste management. This was an area in which both the public and private sector must work together to deliver. He said the purpose of the conference was to bring together the government and the private players in all areas of healthcare.
Simultaneously, the HOSPIMedica India 2003 exhibition was inaugurated in an adjoining hall by Dr Ranga Reddy, President, Indian Medical Association, Andhra Pradesh. He was impressed with the display of some of the latest tools and equipment at the Fair. He said the small and medium hospitals and nursing homes would get an idea about the technological advances the world over. They should not miss the exhibition, he said.
The function was also addressed by Norbert Schmidt, Managing Director, Cidex Trade Fairs Pvt. Ltd, which had organized the Fair. There are more than 80 stalls with participation from 11 countries, including India. There are also group participation from Germany, Australia and China.