Following a week-long programme in India, the UK Health Minister Anna Soubry said that she expects the health partnership with India to ‘further develop and focus, among other themes, on primary healthcare, research and new technologies, education and training and regulatory issues.’ Soubry has recently visited New Delhi, Trivandrum, Bangalore and Chennai.
Speaking at the Indo-UK Diabetes Summit in Chennai, the UK Minister hoped that the large UK delegation visiting this week would share ‘what we have been doing to help drive improvements in outcomes and reduce the significant variation in care that people currently receive across the UK. We are all also keen to learn from the extensive work you are doing to improve diabetes care across India. I know that many are keen to learn from India’s record at delivering quality healthcare at low-cost. They are also keen to learn from India’s volume and complexity of cases, and its vast base of clinical data.’
Earlier in New Delhi, Soubry called on the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior officials in India’s Health Ministry. She met the Drug Controller General of India Dr G N Singh. She visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Public Health Foundation of India and a range of Indian and UK businesses with an interest in healthcare. Soubry’s discussion ranged from primary and public healthcare delivery and human resource development to innovative, low-cost IT solutions and customised delivery.
In Trivandrum, Soubry called on the Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and launched a Kerala Health Department booklet ‘Quality standard for post-partum haemorrhage and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy’ which brings together the work and plans of the Kerala Health Department and the Kerala Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and of NICE International, UK. She visited a primary healthcare centre (PHC), the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology. She then visited the Ziqitza Ambulance Control and Dispatch Centre (CDC) to support the London Ambulance Service’s partnership with emergency services in India.
In Bangalore, Soubry visited Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital and Biocon. She also called on the Karnataka Health Minister Aravind Limbavali. In Chennai, Soubry visited Apollo Hospitals and Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre. She called on the Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr V S Vijay. She also attended a business event hosted by the CII and UK Trade & Investment to encourage commercial links between medical equipment and devices companies from the UK and the private sector in India.
EH News Bureau
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