ICFAI organises 14th Foundation Day Lecture on transforming the healthcare system

NEW DELHI: Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya Limited, Bengaluru, delivered the ‘14th Foundation Day Lecture’ of the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE) on September 19. Delivered virtually, Shetty’s lecture was on ‘Transforming Healthcare through Digital Health.’ The event was organised at the ICFAI Hyderabad campus.

Shetty said: “Healthcare in India is poised to witness a revolution. The cost of healthcare will go down in the next five to ten years, and India will become the first country in the world to dissociate healthcare from affluence.

While addressing the guests and students present at the ICFAI, Shetty said the healthcare sector is yet to witness a revolution. However, things are changing, and India will prove to the world that a nation’s or individual’s wealth has nothing to do with the quality of healthcare its citizens will have access to.

Shetty also called for the development of infrastructure to handle simple surgeries, which is lacking in most developing countries, resulting in 17 to 18 million deaths annually, the statement from ICFAI said.

As per the official statement, Shetty said that the existing health insurance in the country has some flaws as all the stakeholders – hospitals, insurance companies, and patients – do not trust one another.

ICFAI Foundation Day lecture

Shetty spoke on health insurance and new policies clearing the way for hospitals to become insurance providers.

“If hospitals provide insurance, there is no conflict among the stakeholders, and the interests of healthcare providers and patients are aligned. Narayana Health has launched insurance to cater to the needs of the ‘missing middle class’ who cannot afford healthcare but can pay for health insurance,” added the official statement.

C Rangarajan, chancellor of the ICFAI, presided over the function. “He called for a scheme where the government has an important role to play and for providing some medical facilities free of cost. He said that the government needs to take care of certain kinds of people and has responsibility for some sections of society,” the statement from ICFAI added.

Rangarajan also added that the primary health center system should be improved, especially in rural regions of the country. He says when the healthcare services will start providing insurance it would cut the unnecessary expenses borne by the people.

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