Opening Remarks by Ambassador Sibi George at the Ayushman Bharat : India Health Summit on Jan 28, 2019 at Berne
Good Evening Everybody,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a matter of great pleasure for me to be amongst you today at the ‘Ayushman Bharat: India Health Summit’.
I am happy that my colleagues in the Commerce Wing of the Embassy have taken the initiative in organising this timely health event.
Ayushman Bharat is one of the most discussed topics in India at all levels today, in government and private sector and also in media.
Ayushman Bharat is the name of a flagship programme launched by the Government of India in September 2018. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech of 2018, announced the launch of this National Health Protection Scheme. It is the world’s largest public health care programme. It aims at providing assured holistic healthcare to close to 500 million Indian nationals at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels on entitlement basis. An important aspect of Ayushman Bharat is that it being executed through the existing public healthcare system as well as private hospitals.
Within hundred days of its launch, around seven hundred thousand people have already availed treatment under it. The benefits provided to secondary and tertiary health care beneficiaries are worth over Rupees 8 billion, over a hundred and twenty million Swiss Francs. Cardiology and cardio-thoracic and vascular procedures such as angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft and valve replacement are among the top packages utilized under Ayushman Bharat. More than 16,000 hospitals have been empanelled or are in the process of empanelment. Around 3 million beneficiary e-cards have been generated facilitating access to quality healthcare under the scheme.
I would like to leave it to the experts here to talk more about various aspects of Ayushman Bharat and also the health sector in India. The objective of this health summit today is not limited to the Ayushman Bharat scheme. It covers a wide spectrum of health care sector in India. Healthcare has become one of India’s largest sectors - both in terms of revenue and employment. Healthcare in India comprises hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance and medical equipment.
The Indian healthcare sector is growing at a brisk pace due to its strengthening coverage, services and increasing expenditure by public as well private players. The public healthcare system comprises limited secondary and tertiary care institutions in key cities and focuses on providing basic healthcare facilities in the form of primary healthcare centres in rural areas. The private sector provides majority of secondary, tertiary and quaternary care institutions with a major concentration in metros, tier I and tier II cities.
India's competitive advantage lies in its large pool of well-trained medical professionals. India is also cost competitive compared to its peers in Asia and Western countries. The cost of surgery in India is about one-tenth of that in the US or Western Europe. India is also fast emerging as a destination of medical tourism and Ayurveda treatment.
India’s healthcare industry is one of the fastest growing sectors and it is expected to reach $280 billion by 2020. India is a land full of opportunities for players in the medical devices industry. The country has also become one of the leading destinations for high-end diagnostic services with tremendous capital investment for advanced diagnostic facilities, catering to a greater proportion of population. Besides, Indian medical service consumers have become more conscious towards their healthcare upkeep.
Indian healthcare sector is much diversified and is full of opportunities in every segment which includes providers, payers and medical technology. With the increase in the competition, businesses are looking to explore for the latest dynamics and trends which will have positive impact on their business.
One of the major areas of cooperation between India and Switzerland is the health sector. Most of the major pharmaceutical companies have major presence in India. Their engagement is increasing rapidly. Similarly, a large number of Indian professionals are working in the Swiss pharmaceutical sector, particularly in Basel and Zug, and there are also a number of Indian students & doctoral researchers particularly in life sciences departments of the prestigious Swiss Universities.
Our engagement in health sector is increasing rapidly. I look forward to a fruitful interactive session today.
Thank you.
