The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the US-India Business Council (US-IBC) have announced a new initiative in their healthcare collaboration, partnering under the banner of the USIBC-led 'Coalition for Healthy India'. The partnership was announced on the sidelines of CII’s sixth Annual Healthcare Summit, which was attended by a delegation of senior healthcare executives from the headquarters of several USIBC member companies.

According to Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII, “The Confederation of Indian Industry and the US-India Business Council have long collaborated to support healthcare improvements in India. Today, we're proud to announce an exclusive partnership between USIBC and CII in the form of a joint CII-USIBC Healthcare Task Force.”

The Coalition for Healthy India focuses on five key pillars: raising the standard of care; developing new treatments and cures; ensuring access and affordability; getting medicine to patients; and corporate social responsibility. All of these efforts are channelled with a particular emphasis on improving the situation in rural areas where more than 60 per cent of Indians live and work.

The Coalition for Healthy India Healthcare Task Force will serve as an advisory council which guides and coordinates US-IBC and CII efforts towards improving healthcare in India. The Task Force will be chaired on the Indian side by Dr Prathap C Reddy and on the US side by Dr Vas Narasimhan, head, Vaccines North America, president, Vaccines USA, Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, and board member of the US-India Business Council.

The Coalition for Healthy India, managed by the US India Business Council, is dedicated to ensuring that Indian patients have access to the latest and most effective treatments and cures. It was created in 2007 to bring together like-minded members of the US and Indian business communities, non-governmental organizations, patient advocacy organizations and health professionals to coordinate and support improved access to healthcare in India.

Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman CII National Committee on Healthcare & chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, noted that the healthcare systems of the US and India have much to learn from one another. “The partnership we’re announcing under the Coalition for Healthy India brings together the foremost healthcare innovators from two of the world’s most dynamic societies. This will not only have a positive impact on patients in India, it will benefit patients around the globe.”