Industry veterans discuss the concept of sustainability in healthcare at the two-day conference
Several veterans and experts from the healthcare sector spoke on various sub-themes of the conference. The inaugural address was given by the Chief Guest, K Sujatha Rao, Former Union Secretary with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. She took the delegates through the successful journey of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and emphasised on the need for continuous efforts to sustain the achievements made so far.
The conference was attended by delegates from leading institutes across the country such as JIPMER, CMC Vellore, Goa Institute of Management, IIHMR Jaipur, KEM, Nair Hopital, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center etc.
Abhay Bang, Director, SEARCH spoke on ‘Aarogya-Swaraj – Sustainable Health at the micro-level’ and Prof Gautam Sen, Founder and Chairman, Healthspring gave a speech on the need and vision for primary care in the country.
Prof R Ramakumar, Dean, School of Development Studies talked about ‘Sustainable Development and Food Security and Nutrition’ and Dr Nobhojit Roy, Surgeon and Public Health Specialist spoke about ‘environmental determinants of health and water supply and sanitation.’ He also said that achieving health is not just focussing on the Goal 3 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but it is also about addressing the other SDGs that indirectly have an impact on the health of the individual and the community as a whole.
A session was also held on ‘Stakeholders’ Onus — Taking Action Together,’ which was moderated by Prof T Sundaram. The panelists were Dr Amit Sengupta, Associate Global Coordinator, People’s Health Movement; Dr Indranil Mukhopadhay from Public Health Foundation of India; Dr Kaushik Sen, CEO and Co Founder, Healthspring; and Dr Salima Bhatia, Senior Consultant, Maternal Health Division, MoHFW. They discussed their roles towards sustainable health and healthcare systems.
The second day’s first session was on ‘360o Innovations: Revolutionising sustainable care in hospitals’. The session speakers were Dr A Lingaiah, Director – Medical Services, Yashoda Hospitals; Dr MI Sahadulla, Chairman and MD, KIMS Healthcare Group and Neeraj Garg, CEO, Apollo Health and Lifestyle.
Dr Lingaiah said, “Administration is the backbone of the hospital.” He talked about financial sustainability and about Yashoda Hospitals’ move to go for day-care surgeries. Dr Sahadulla talked about innovation in IT, highlighted the need for India to catch up in healthcare delivery, quality and accreditation in reducing costs, patient-centric care, medical travel etc. Neeraj Garg gave examples of disruptive business innovations, and spoke on innovation and reinvention in ambulatory care in India.
The next session for the day was on tertiary care reach strategy. The panelists were Dr Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences; Dr Rakesh Verma, Group Head Training and Organisational Development, Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital and Mohini Daljeet Singh, CEO, Max India Foundation. Singh gave insights about Max Foundation’s CSR initiatives. She said that CSR must be a fast track parallel solution. It should be a mix of healthcare awareness through immunisation, talks and screening videos.
The conference also looked into ‘Home grown models: India’s answers to sustainability’. The speakers were Dr Raman Kataria, Co-Founder and Secretary, Jan Swasthya Sahyog and Garima Gupta Kapila, COO, Swasth Foundation.
The last session was chaired by Prof Shalini Bharat. The speakers were Frederika Saksena, UNFPA representative; Priyanka Saksena, Technical Officer, WHO and Dr Amit Sengupta, Associate Global Coordinator, People’s Health Movement. They all highlighted the role of these global institutions in the journey towards sustainability.
The conference also had three exclusive contests for student delegates. Poster presentations were also held. The event concluded with an address by Prof S Parasuraman, Director, TISS. The conference was well received by all the attendees.