CII UP Health Summit Echos Commitment, Convergence & Technology Inclusion for Better Healthcare Promises

The CII UP Health Summit in Lucknow emphasised healthcare transformation in Uttar Pradesh, delivering equitable access, technology deployment, & innovation. Leaders underscored the state's dedication to healthcare through investments including Ayushman Bharat and AI-driven cost reduction.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised its 5th edition of the CII UP Health Summit on September 15^th at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. DigitalHealthNews attended the deliberation as the Summit's media partner. This year's summit centred around the theme '˜Empowering Wellness: Transforming Lives for a Healthy Future.'

During the inaugural session, Shri Partha Sarthi SenSharma, I.A.S, Principal Secretary of the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh, emphasised the state's commitment to providing equitable and high-quality healthcare services to all.

He highlighted the state's investment of INR 3500 Cr in the Ayushman Bharat Yojna and introduced the green channel setup for health-related schemes, expediting insurance claims. Uttar Pradesh boasts the highest number of 1242 hospitals included in this channel. SenSharma also emphasised the state's priority goal of eliminating TB.

Shri Ranjan Kumar, IAS, Secretary of Medical Health & Family Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh, discussed the substantial growth of healthcare infrastructure in the state.

He said, "There are numerous health programs that are being by the UP and central government to provide health services to the people. Ayushman Bharat is one of the initiatives to bring people under the unified digital health infrastructure. We are also taking the help of Artificial intelligence techniques to reduce the cost of health services and make it affordable for the masses."

He further urged the industry to invest more in research and development to make healthcare services and products innovative, smart, and economical.

Michelle Erwee, global head of Access to Medicines at Japan-based pharmaceutical company-Takeda, highlighted a significant concern: approximately 2 billion people in India lack adequate access to essential medicines.

However, she praised India's focus on providing healthcare to all during the G20 summit. She commended the Uttar Pradesh government's vision of establishing a medical college in every district under the 'One District One Medical College' Policy.

Sangeeta Singh, I.A.S, Chief Executive Officer of the State Agency for Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services (SACHIS), reported that 3600 institutions have been empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state, with 69% of them being private medical institutions.

Smita Agarwal, vice chairperson of CII UP State Council and Director & CFO of PTC Industries Ltd, expressed her gratitude to the esteemed speakers for contributing to the healthcare sector's comprehensiveness and inclusivity in Uttar Pradesh. She reiterated CII's commitment to collaborating with the state government to successfully implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme through a public-private partnership model.

The conference witnessed the participation of 100 delegates from the healthcare sector, industry, CII members, and government representatives, underscoring the importance of collective efforts in advancing healthcare in Uttar Pradesh.

From all the session discussions at the Summit, the role of technology, private players' participation gained prominence. Inclusion of fresh ideas such as bringing innovative ways of setting up telemedicine centre at the outskirt cities, with the help of AI and other relevant technologies were discussed. Further, be it oncology or clinical operations, using innovative technology solution as a panacea proved to be a common thread of discussion at the Summit.