AIR Spotlight: Advantage Healthcare India Meeting

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.

This article is about the discussion on: Advantage Healthcare India Meeting

Participants:

• Dr. M.C Mishra, Former Director of AIIMS
• Lalima, AIR Correspondent

Context: Advantage Healthcare India meeting is taking place (April 2023) in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Stats related to healthcare: 

• The Union cabinet approved the setting up of 157 nursing colleges as medical colleges that have been established since 2014. 
  • It is a move aimed at filling up nursing vacancies and ironing out disparities in the distribution of nursing colleges. 
• With 100 seats per college, the move will add 15,700 BSc nursing seats across the country. The highest number of colleges will be in Uttar Pradesh (27), Rajasthan (23), and Madhya Pradesh (14).
• There are currently 1.18 lakh BSc nursing seats in the country. 
• There has been increasing demand for Indian nurses across the country. Currently, there are 26,000 Indian nurses working in the UK, 20,000 in the Gulf countries, 16,000 in the US, 12,000 in Australia and 5,000 in Canada.
• India stands in 10th position when it comes to medical tourism in the world. 

Details:

• An international conference, Advantage Healthcare India, is being held on the sidelines of the G20 meetings. 
  • It focuses on the “medical value travel” of patients, for affordable and timely health interventions, and healthcare workers, for a more robust system across the world.
  • This is a platform through which India is promoting itself as a hub for medical tourism; the initial focus would be on private sector facilities. 
• India has emerged as a preferred destination for medical tourism in recent years. India is continuously striving for equitable access to healthcare for all and to reduce disparities in healthcare availability across the globe during its G20 presidency under the vision of One Earth-One Health.
• The summit will witness 125 exhibitors and around 500 hosted foreign delegates from 70 countries. 
  • Reverse Buyer Seller Meetings and scheduled B2B meetings with hosted delegates from more than 70 designated countries in the region of Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, SAARC and ASEAN will bring together and connect the Indian healthcare providers and foreign participants on one forum.
• The primary focus of the summit will be on patient and healthcare workforce mobility so that value-based healthcare services can be provided to patients in different countries in a hassle-free manner.
  • The event aims to showcase India as the new hub for providing quality and world-class healthcare and wellness services at affordable prices.
• One Earth One Health Advantage Healthcare India 2023 is an important effort in this direction.

Reason for India emerging as the hub of medical tourism: 

• There are two pillars of the health facility in the country i.e. accessibility and affordability. India is successfully catering to these two pillars of medical tourism. 
• The Indian healthcare system is equipped with a high level of expertise and infrastructure in order to cope with the demand of patients across the world. 
  • Diversified health-related services are provided in India like cardiology, neurology, knee replacement, etc. This diverse set of services with high levels of efficiency set India at the top level. 
• The quality of health care service in India is remarkable and is able to meet the demand of patients across the world. 
• India’s alternative forms of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha medicine systems are not only healing the body but also the mind of people. The concept of yoga is able to bring positive change in the lifestyle of the person. 
• India is also regarded as the pharmacy of the world since it is able to produce many high-quality medicines at the most affordable price. Moreover, there is no compromise over the efficacy of these medicines. 
• The expansion of 5G technology and telemedicine have enabled doctors to engage in online consultations with patients across the world. 
• Under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative, India is becoming a hub of medical equipment manufacturing and many other high-end tools. It will put India in a very comfortable position across the world in medical tourism. 

India is passing through a period of demographic dividend, so quality healthcare service is imperative to realise the full potential of this dividend. 

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