Hyderabad: Apollo Hospitals Group’s International Health Dialogue, which comprises of International Patient Safety Conference; and Transforming Healthcare with IT conference, concluded today. Hon’ble Governor of Telangana Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, was the Chief Guest, at the valedictory, also present were Guest of Honour Mr. Etela Rajender, Hon’ble Minister for Medical, Health & Family Welfare, Govt of Telangana; Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group; Ms Shobana Kamineni, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group and Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals; today at HICC Novotel.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan said, this is the first program I am attending as the Governor of Telangana and delighted that it is a conference of healthcare professionals. It’s an honour to be present and address an International Medical Conference. As a medical doctor, I have been aware of the need that patients in India should have access to the latest and the best of the medical technology that is available. The World’s largest government-funded healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat is growing from strength to strength in fulfillment of government’s commitment to make healthcare accessible to all the Indians. Our Hon’ble Health Minister of Telangana State stated that the unplanned expenditure is the healthcare expenditure, but as a Doctor, I can say even the Healthcare expenditure can be planned by health insurance schemes. The Health Insurance schemes will enable to get the maximum healthcare and I laud the Government of India for bringing out the Ayushman Bharat. As a medical student who gained the training at the District of Tanjavur, I realised for want of a few hundred they sacrificed so many lives of the village people. So that makes me to appreciate Government of India for bringing out schemes like Ayushman Bharat. It is indeed heartening to see medical conferences on an international scale being organized with representation from the medical profession from half of the world. I am sure that the exchange of knowledge that will take place and the exposure to the latest developments in medicine will help as the world will opt for doctors with skills to develop the best care to the patients. Technology is changing, changing the world we live in, moreover, healthcare is an area that has the potential to benefit from technology. It can transform healthcare, today we have digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D Printing, robotics, nanotechnology, which are changing the face of modern medicine. It is essential for Indian doctors to familiarise with the latest developments in order to be able to control the technology. As a practicing sonologist and foetal therapist, I have seen the evolvement of technology in the medical field. Initially, the ultrasound machines were bigger in size, now we have handy machines and the diagnosis is more accessible and easy. Initially, as a medical student, I would struggle to get the vein for transmission, if we get the vein, we would be very happy and celebrate the occasion, so getting a vein itself was difficult in olden days and as a student, I used to struggle a lot. But as a foetal therapist, after my training in foetal therapy at Kerala, I have addressed foetal vein through ultrasound guidance, that is the evolvement of technology. India has a rich history of contribution to the field of medicine, Sushruta is known as the father of modern medicine and father of plastic surgery invented and developed surgical procedures that have considerable knowledge of relevance even today and laid down the foundation of Ayurveda, the classical medical system of India. It is hoped that conferences like this serve as a platform for doctors from foreign countries to gain exposure to our ancient science. Indian culture always places great importance on taking care of guests, for hospitals patients are special guests who need to be taken care of with great love and complete attention. I am therefore happy to see a conference dedicated to patient safety and Information Technology in Healthcare. The patient safety is a problem not just for India, but also major issue for developed countries, if it is taken care off we can save on money and that can be spent to address better facilities and make care affordable and accessible. Let’s best use technology to address patient safety, as well as fight the rising problem of non-communicable diseases, which are a big challenge to our country and to the world, this is a pledge we all need to take.
Mr. Etela Rajender said, I am at the International Patient Safety Conference; and Transforming Healthcare with IT conference, being hosted in Hyderabad. I am confident that these two conferences will find solutions to help to transform healthcare delivery. Patient safety is the fundamental cornerstone of health services and this event is an excellent opportunity to discuss progress, confabulate and plan together on how we all can work towards contributing better healthcare. Let me take this opportunity to underline Telangana government’s effort and plans in the area of healthcare, the state is working towards developing a healthy Telangana through an effective and modern health care model with a mission of ensuring good health for all. Telangana is fast emerging as a leader in the country by implementing first of its kind and effective healthcare initiatives. Today I am proud to say that Telangana state has some of the finest healthcare schemes that are appreciated and adopted by others across the country, some of which are included in the national health mission plans. It’s the aim of Telangana government to take the healthcare to every household. Telangana government has taken initiave to boost the healthcare, the Arogyasri program, KCR kits are examples of our commitment, in this regard many more initiatives are in the offing like health profile of people of the state through health check-up will be done. Simultaneously standalone health schemes are in the form Telanagana dialysis, regularly check-up for pregnant women. We want healthcare stakeholders to come forward to partner with the Telangana government in framing patient safety policies. Everything is an expected expenditure, the only unexpected expenditure is on healthcare. We should work to provide access of quality healthcare to the poorest of the poor in the state. We want Telangana to be Bangaru Telangana and healthy Telangana.
Dr. Prathap C Reddy said, As far as technology is concerned, medical technology has always grown fast but what we have not seen was medical technology as an aid for managing the quality of care for patients, which gained greater importance call it AI of healthcare. I am happy to say that healthcare has seen many changes, to an extent the private sector handles 2/3 of the patients. With what we learnt we will work with the government, what you learnt we will assimilate and work with you where ever possible, this cooperation can do wonders for the patient and the country. World Economic Forum made a statement 3 years ago that 80 mn deaths will be because of NCD, the five NCDs are cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, infections, diabetes, to these five I will add obesity, which is rising rapidly in India and are overcoming many countries. During the course of this conference, we brought awareness to these NCDs. In India, 59% of the deaths are from NCDs. In advanced countries, it is 40%. We launched Apollo Pro-Health yesterday to avoid preventable deaths and will make a significant difference to the health of the people and the country.
