The ninth edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas has concluded here with the Union government wooing the non-resident Indian entrepreneurs to invest in the health sector and urging the Indian diaspora to engage actively to better the public health sector in the country.

As part of the three-day event which ended on Sunday, a special seminar was organised to specially focus healthcare issues with a view to inviting the NRI intervention. Besides, a large number of medical professionals of Indian origin spread across India attended the event and vowed to help improve the systems and treatment.

Addressing the session on health sector, Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi suggested that all those present should come together and prepare a roadmap for investment in health sector. About 25 percent of the doctors of the world were of Indian descent and had a major role to improve the standards back home, he said. “While there has been tremendous development in the pharmaceutical sector in India and the outer world over the years, healthcare has not changed in my country,” he said.

Noting that healthcare was at its minimum since there were statistics to show that millions were suffering from various diseases in the villages of India, he proposed that doctors and other experts in medicine partner with India to provide a better service to the people afflicted.

The seminar on health covered aspects like the role of diaspora, engaging actively them in health sector and the importance of public-private partnership. Additional secretary in the Ministry of Health Keshav Desiraju, Dr Naresh Trehan of CII, Dr George Abraham of Madras Medical Mission, Dr Prathap C Reddy of Apollo group of hospitals, Rajat Gupta from PM’s Global Advisory Council, Dr Sreenath Reddy of Public Health Foundation of India, WHO representative Dr Nata Menabde, Dr Prabhat Jha  from Toronto University, Dr Sr Lucian Ettyakkattu  who is director of St Mary’s Nursing Home and Dr H R Sudarshan of Karuna Trust addressed the NRIs to brief on the scope, importance, and systems of healthcare in the country.

Nearly 1,500 overseas Indians from 51 countries, including top businessmen, economists and scientists, participated in the conclave organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.