Govt coming up with pharma research policy to uplift Industry-academia linkages: Mandaviya

New Delhi: Government  is focusing on shift from volume to value; strengthen industry academia linkages through Pharma Research Policy, remarked Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Health & Family Welfare, Government of India at the Pharma Med HD conference organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) on 8th July 2022.

“Government is putting together an accessible and affordable healthcare ecosystem for the citizens of the country. Healthy citizens make a healthy society which further makes a healthy nation, so it is very crucial to strengthen this sector. Government is coming up with certain initiatives like Pharma research policy to uplift Industry-academia linkages to magnify research in this area which will bring immediate solutions to the problems,” said Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.

“We have taken some significant steps to bring in ease in doing business. More than 25000 compliance has been reduced so that industry can thrive and do business easily because our main focus is to shift from volume to value. Also stakeholder consultation is one of our top priorities to move forward in this direction because we do not only see “health as commerce but also as service to mankind,” added Dr. Mandaviya.

Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Authority, briefed about some important uses and benefits of schemes and applications made for affordable health care system. He talked about Unified Health Interface which is created for teleconsultation, record management; data sharing and also it will help a person to find a particular doctor or any drug through verified registry of doctors and drugs respectively.

These type of facilities are created to benefit both provider as well as seeker. Also one more progress in this area has been made through ABHA (health id) which can be created under AYUSHMAN BHARAT to build a record of longitudinal health history. 23 crores accounts already been created, added, Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma.

Pradeep Multani, President, PHDCCI, mentioned that the Healthcare industry in India is projected to reach $372 billion by 2022 comprising of hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance, and medical equipment. Several factors are driving the growth of the Indian healthcare sector including an aging population, a growing middle class, the rising proportion of lifestyle diseases, an increased emphasis on public-private partnerships as well as accelerated adoption of digital technologies, including telemedicine, besides heightened interest from investors and increased FDI inflows over the last two decades.

“Taking into account the support provided by the Central Government through various initiatives and incentive schemes and the offerings of State Governments in ease of doing business, it is the time for collaboration to make India self-reliant in healthcare sector,” Multani said.