Wide healthcare insurance and public-private cooperation will help thwart all the problems concerning healthcare industry in India and accelerate its growth with a positive change, opined experts at the launch of ISB's healthcare management programme in New Delhi.

Expressing their views, they said insurance and public-private cooperation will be a major game changer and can act as a catalyst for the next big move in the healthcare sector. Though nascent in India, it can change the trajectory of coverage and cost of healthcare delivery. A marriage of healthcare provider and insurer can provide a seamless experience, opined Analjit Singh, founder and non-executive chairman of Max India Group, while Dr. Prathap C Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals said that while the government is doing a good job at the primary level, to improve the healthcare structure at the tertiary level, it needs to encourage more public-private co-operation.

The present system of healthcare in the country is mainly bogged down by rising costs which is leading people to delay treatments, which further raises costs and increased death rates. India has one of the highest death rates due to diseases – 250 deaths per 1,00,000 people as compared to the global average of 200 deaths per 1,00,000 people. Also, public spends on health care are as low as 1.2 per cent of the GDP when compared against population growth. The global average is 5.4 per cent.

In view of the above concerns, all captains of the health and wellness industry gathered together to roll out a focused plan to address issues like paucity of management expertise, healthcare education standards, and policy among others at the launch of ISB's healthcare management programme in New Delhi.

As part of this, healthcare stalwarts like Analjit Singh, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman & MD, Medanta - The Medicity, Prof. M C Mishra, director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and others took part in a panel discussion and deliberated on the ‘Challenges facing Healthcare Sector in India'.

The panellists agreed to join hands on forward-looking, sector-specific policies and invest their time and experience in training health care industry professionals, to bridge the management skill gap for healthcare in the country.