Health Minister J P Nadda today visited the Tamagawa hospital here and hoped that it would continue to assist India in the area of dialysis treatment, a "critical" requirement for India's healthcare system.
Nadda, who is here to attend a health ministers' meet on antimicrobial resistance, said Indian medical engineers have been trained in dialysis treatment and maintenance technology under the India-Japan HR exchange which was supported by the Tamagawa hospital.
"Visited the excellent Tamagawa Hospital, Tokyo; had enriching interaction with staff at the Kidney Centre
"Indian medical engineers trained in #dialysis treatment & maintenance tech under successful Indo-Japan HR exchange, supported by #Tamagawa," Nadda said in a series of tweets.
Terming the hospital as a top-rated facility, Nadda said there is much to learn from the technology being used here.
"#Tamagawa Hospital Kidney #dialysis Centre is a top-rated facility; much to learn from their dialysis technology & focus on quality of life.
"Look forward to continued partnership with #Tamagawa Hospital in #dialysis treatment, a critical requirement for India's healthcare system," he said.
Nadda is visiting the city for a meeting of health ministers of various countries on antimicrobial resistance, which he had earlier termed as a "serious" global challenge.
He said he looked forward to engaging with health ministers of various countries on the issue which of "vital" importance to India.
"Leaving for Tokyo for the Health Ministers' meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance. #AMR: A serious global health challenge.
"Looking forward to fruitful discussions and meaningful engagement with other countries on a topic of vital importance to India," Nadda had earlier tweeted.
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Minister of State for Health, Anupriya Patel said the challenges in achieving affordable and accessible healthcare for all was immense as nearly 73 per cent of the country's population lives in rural areas and about 26 per cent is below poverty level.
"However, the government alone cannot meet the infrastructure, capacity and delivery shortages existing in the current healthcare system. There has to be increased participation of private sector in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes to address theses issues.
"I personally feel that PPPs are all about balance, maintaining equilibrium between public and private, risk and reward, cost and impact," she said.
The Minister underlined that in the coming years stakeholders, such as pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, insurance providers, medical device manufacturers, patients, doctors, researchers and medical students should come together to move healthcare beyond the hospital and shift towards patient self knowledge and empowerment.
Laying emphasis on the business aspect of the healthcare, the Minister observed that Information and Communication Technology sector has become a major component of the health sector in India. The sector is growing at 25 per cent per annum and is presently worth about Rs 70,000 crores.
"Coupled with this, India is gradually emerging as an attractive destination for medical care since the hospitals can perform a surgery at 1/10th of the cost to be incurred in the US or any other developed country," she said.
Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII Healthcare Council and Chairman and Managing Director of Medanta-The Medicity, said that investment in the health sector should be treated like in any other sector.
Shobana Kamineni, President - Designate, CII and Executive Vice-chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, said PPP model need not be restricted to hospitals and patient care. It can be extended to new branches of medicine like tele-medicine, manufacture of medical equipment etc.
