Multi-stake holder approach will lead to affordable healthcare: JP Nadda

The private sector’s support is critical for Ayushman Bharat

Union health minister, JP Nadda informed that the government is keen to formalise a multi-stakeholder forum to arrive at policy decisions and formulate implementable strategies to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all. He was addressing FICCI HEAL 2018 in New Delhi,’Healthcare at Crossroads’, jointly organised by FICCI and NITI Aayog.

Speaking at the event, Nadda said, “There is no formal structure for policy interaction and very soon we will have a forum where multi-stakeholders will join hands with the government for policy decisions and program implementation plans,” added that such synergies would be important to achieve a hepatitis-free India by 2030.

The Minister added that Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) looks at health holistically with twin pillars of Health and Wellness Centres for comprehensive primary health Care and financial protection for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

“Ayushman Bharat is a historic decision and has two pillars of preventive and promotive healthcare and converting 1.5 lakh sub-centres and PHCs into health and wellness centres. All support should be given to health centres to ensure preventive care. For this we are going for universal health screening at the age of 30. This is a paradigm shift as far as healthcare is concerned and this is one area where the private sector can come in,” Nadda said.

Highlighting that quality and ethics will be th eguiding force in healthcare, Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Government of India, urged the private sector to engage with the government in providing quality care at reasonable rates, monitored by the government. He said, “PMJAY is not possible without the engagement of the private sector. We need to create a pipeline of specialists and private sector can help in filling that gap.”

Sangita Reddy, Vice President, FICCI and Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. in her welcome address, said, “India is no longer at crossroads with the launch of Ayushman Bharat. Healthcare has entered the Universal Collective Super Highway.”

Setting theme of the conference, Dr Arvind Lal, CMD, Dr Lal PathLabs said,”In order to ensure appropriate costs for procedures covered under the PMJAY, while maintaining the quality of services, it is important to derive rational and sustainable package rates. here is a strong need to understand costs from the perspective of all relevant stakeholders the government, the providers and the consumer.

The Health Minister also released the ‘FICCI Code of Ethics for the Health Services Industry. A FICCI White Paper ‘Demystifying Healthcare Costs’, was also released during the session.