Public-private partnerships need to ensure affordable and quality healthcare: Madhukar Kumar Bhagat

Speaking at the 21st Indo-US Economic Summit organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) Bhagat noted that while the private sector largely takes into account the commercial side of a sector, in the case of healthcare, it needs to move beyond the commercial interest. He also said that in regions where the private sector would not foray for healthcare services, the government would pitch in.

“We have to talk about a partnership between the government and private sector to bring about these four fundamental things, availability of healthcare, affordability of healthcare, access to healthcare and quality of healthcare,” he said, adding that the whole vision of ‘Vikshit Bharat’ (Developed India) has to be people-centric.

Talking of the government’s efforts to boost healthcare services in the country, he also said that the Union Government is focussing on technological advancement through Artificial Intelligence (AI) apart from taking healthcare to the interior regions of the country.

“If I talk of the economic perspective, then the areas of market failure have to be taken into account by the government. If I talk about the rural area I cannot think that immediately in the near future I can see corporate hospitals operating over there and therefore that is a region of market failure where the government has to have its presence,” the top official said. He also stressed the role of the government in terms of regulating the healthcare space by laying standards, and roadmaps and overseeing practices are ethical in this important sector for the country.

“At the same time there is also expectation from the government that it is going to aid in cutting-edge research, which the government is doing in the field of AI,” Bhagat said.

Speaking at the event themed ‘Building Bridges, Shaping Futures: Pioneering Pathways for 21st Century Growth’, Genessa Giorgi, Health Attaché at the US Embassy, New Delhi, emphasised on the need for a global push for healthcare going beyond the boundaries of India and the US.

“By prioritising healthcare, investing in innovation and fostering partnership we can create a prosperous, equitable and healthy society. Not just India, US but for the whole globe,” she said.

Other speakers in the session included Dr Upasana Arora, Chairperson, Healthcare Services Comm, Executive Council Member, IACC & Managing Director, Yashoda Super Specialty Hospitals Pharmaceuticals and Affordable Medicines; Dr Shefali Misra, Group VP, Public Policy and Government Affairs, Biocon Group; Rajeev Juneja, Vice Chairman and MD, Mankind Pharma; Dr Sangeeta Sharma, Professor and Head, Department of Neuropsychopharmacology, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS).