SYMHEALTH 2017 held in Pune

Union Health Minister spoke on his vision of making health as universal and affordable for all at SYMHEALTH 2017

SYMHEALTH 2017, an international conference on healthcare in a globalising world, was recently held in Pune, which was organised by the Faculty of Health & Biomedical Sciences (FoHBS), Symbiosis International University (SIU). The three-day event, was attended by around 1000 healthcare professionals, from India and abroad. The opening address of the pre-conference symposium was given by Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar, Dean, Faculty of Health & Biomedical Sciences. Various career opportunities in healthcare sector were discussed by stalwarts from the corporate industry. The session was chaired by Dr Ravindra Karanjekar, Group CEO, Jupiter Hospital who spoke on opportunities in the field of healthcare and hospital management. The vertical of health insurance was represented by Dr Shreeraj Deshpande, Head-Health Insurance, Future Generali India Insurance Co. The challenges and opportunities arising in the healthcare IT branch was discussed by Narendra Barhate, MD and CEO, Seed Infotech whereas Dr Madhura Nene, Former Director, Quintiles informed on choices available in the field on clinical research.

A session on Challenges, Standardisation, Accreditation & Social Perception was chaired by Dr (Gp Capt) Suchitra Mankar, Founder, Doorstep Health Services. Others who took part in the panel were Dr Anuradha Sunil, CMD, Indicare Health Solutions, Dr Mahesh Joshi, CEO, Apollo Home Care, Apollo Hospitals Group, Anshu Verma, Manager Standards, Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC), GoI and Sandeep Oberoi, GM, Philips Home Healthcare.

Marjaana Suutarinen, CEO of HY+ Oy, University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education, Finland and Leena Liimatainen, Dean, Faculty of Social & Health Care, Lahti University of Applied Sciences (LAMK), Finland gave insights on Finnish Education, Pedagogy and opportunities in home healthcare was discussed by Kumar Krishnaswamy, Group Head – HR, Nightingales Home Health, V Thiyagarajan, MD, India Home Healthcare, Dr Gaurav Thukral, Senior VP and Business Unit Director, Health Care at HOME India and Dr Arun Jamkar, Former Vice-Chancellor, MUHS, Nashik.

On the second day, curtains were raised for SYMHEALTH 2017. The inaugural ceremony was graced by JP Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, GoI, who was the chief guest while the guests of honour were Dr (Prof) Jagdish Prasad, DGHS, MoH&FW, GoI and Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, ICMR. The ceremony was presided over by Dr SB Mujumdar, Founder & President, Symbiosis & Chancellor, SIU. Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis, Dr Rajani Gupte, Vice Chancellor, SIU, Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar, Dean, Faculty of Health & Biomedical Sciences, SIU & Deans from all faculties of Symbiosis.

Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India, was the chairperson for Track 1, who gave an overview of various sub-themes under Track 1 ranging from sustainable development goals, global and national perspectives on healthcare financing, government policies and interventions to the role of the civil society organisations  towards improving healthcare delivery.

Alok Kumar, Advisor, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), GoI, a speaker in Track 1 on Healthcare Economics and Financing, spoke on the government policies and interventions designed to address the important aspects on healthcare economics.

The Track 2 on Healthcare Communications had Dr Pradeep Krishnatray, India- Director, Johns HopkinBloomberg School of Public Health.

The Track 3 on Healthcare Laws featured stalwarts such as Dr Mohan Agashe, Former Director, Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health, who talked about mental health. Dr Agashe showed a snippet of his film Astu to the audience. Prof Kris Gledhill, Director of Clinical Legal Education, AUT Law School, Auckland, New Zealand put forth his views on the global advocacy perspectives on mental health. Track 3 also dealt with the medico-legal aspects around patient safety which was discussed by Prof John Tingle, Reader in Health Law, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

The focus of Track 4 on Healthcare: Engineering Design & Geospatial Applications was on recent trends in the designing of ‘Smart Hospitals’, use of technology, innovative applications and adoption of user centric ergonomically designed equipment for effective healthcare delivery. Dr Nitin Tripathi, Professor, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, enlightened on how Geographic Information System (GIS), a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on.

Day 2 of SYMHEALTH 2017 opened up with two parallel sessions i.e. Track 5 and Track 6. Track 5 on Healthcare IT dealt with the positive impact of technology on the healthcare delivery. Linda Roberson, CEO, Paper Tracer Software System, USA, spoke on IT as an enabler.

Track 6 on Healthcare: International Relations threw perspective on the linkages between global healthcare and the various dimensions of International Relations. Dr Roderico H Ofrin, Regional Coordinator, WHO, South East Asian Regional Office (SEARO), New Delhi discussed the role World Health Organization (WHO) plays for ensuring healthcare in humanitarian and environmental crises. Dr Khanindra Bhuyan, Health Specialist, UNICEF mentioned the role of UNICEF in promoting international relations.

Track 7 focussed on Healthcare Innovations & Entrepreneurship and had a very interesting talk on Innovations in India: The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) model by Dr Shirshendu Mukherjee, Mission Director, Grand Challenges India, BIRAC.

The overview for the last track Healthcare: Integrative approach in Indian setup comprised amongst other sub themes a panel discussion on integrative approach to healthcare by Dr Srikanth, Dy Director General, CCAR, GOI, Dr KS Sethi, Deputy Advisor, Homeopathy, GOI , Dr R Nagaratna, Medical Director, Arogyadhama, VYASA.

The valedictory ceremony was graced by Adv Ram Jethmalani, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, guests of honour Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Country Representative, India, Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi and presided over by Dr SB Mujumdar, Founder & President, Symbiosis & Chancellor, SIU.

Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Country Representative, India, expressed globalisation is the key and today we are far better connected. However, this poses challenges such as spread of infectious diseases.