Ayushman Bharat CEO says vibrant policy framework must, to back healthcare innovations

Technological innovations in healthcare need to be backed by a robust policy framework, said Indu Bhushan, the CEO of the government's ambitious scheme Ayushman Bharat. He said technology has become the backbone of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), helping make the entire system cashless and paperless.

Speaking at the 2nd Health Tech India, 2019, organised by Confederation of India Industry (CII), Bhushan said with over 50 crore population coming under the purview of healthcare, technology is going to become an even bigger market in healthcare. However, he cautioned that technology would cost money and therefore, both healthcare providers and other stakeholders should be prepared to balance this high cost as financial allocation would be needed.

"Technological innovations in healthcare need to be backed by a robust policy framework," he emphasised. The 2nd edition of Health Tech India, under 23rd International Engineering and Trade Fairs, is being held from February 3 to 5 at Pragati Maidan.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health, highlighted that the focus of Indian healthcare over the years, has changed from being curative to slowly becoming preventive which has also led to an increase in scope for innovation. "The beneficial aspects of technology in India, lie in the fact that, in a country like India, it can overcome geographical and financial barriers to reach those who actually need it," he said.

Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, speaking at the inaugural session, brought to light some of the factors on which high life expectancy in Japan (women=86 years and men=81years) is dependent upon. These are efficient management of skills and logistics in the medical device sector, well-trained doctors and nurses and the commitment of the government to universal health coverage. Japan is the partner country for the second consecutive edition of the event and Hiramatsu expressed full support of his country in collaborating with India to take the agenda of health technology forward.

(With inputs from agencies.)