India’s
healthcare industry has been growing at a CAGR of 22% since 2016 and is
expected to reach USD372 billion by 2022 from USD110 billion in 2016. Growing
health awareness among the population regarding communicable and
non-communicable diseases, increased focus of government on enhancing health
coverage through policies such as Ayushman Bharat, and better accessibility to
healthcare with the expansion of hospitals, diagnostic centers, etc. are some
of the factors attributing to the three-fold rise of the Indian healthcare
sector in the country. In the Economic survey of India 2022, healthcare stood
at 2.1% of GDP in 2021-2022 against 1.8% in 2020-21.
A pool of
well-trained medical professionals and scientists, dynamic pharmaceutical and
biotechnological industry, and leading hospitals that attract foreign patients
to avail affordable cost of surgery give Indian healthcare industry a global
competitive advantage. However, being the world’s most second populous country
and one of the fastest-growing economies, India faces many challenges in the
sphere of public healthcare systems. Hence, the Indian government is working towards
providing comprehensive health coverage with the rapid development of
healthcare infrastructure and reducing disparities in health and healthcare
systems between rich and poor states.
One of the best
organized healthcare systems in the world, National Health Services (NHS-UK)
is a government-run organization that provides free healthcare, including
healthcare services, diagnostics, and lab tests. Every household in the UK holds
an NHS card that provide insurance to patients with specific health conditions,
thus preventing diseases, improving quality of life, and enhancing life
expectancy. On the same line, the Indian government launched healthcare
program, Ayushman Bharat in September 2018 to cover 10 crore poor and
vulnerable families (approx. 50 crore beneficiaries) coverage of up to 5 lakh
rupees for secondary and tertiary hospitalization.
Ayushman Bharat (popularly
known as “Modicare”) follows the NHS model, providing essential
healthcare service to those facing financial hardships. The world’s largest
government-funded healthcare insurance scheme is being considered a game-changer
since it is providing several opportunities for international healthcare
organizations in both public and private sectors to come together and improve
healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality of care.
United Kingdom
is the most notable alliance nation with India due to a population of diverse
mix of cultures. Hence, the Prime Minister of India and the UK have come to an
agreement on a Government-to-Government Implementation Taskforce to
build new institutes and collaborate in other spheres of healthcare. An MoU
between the two countries has been signed for Indo-UK Healthcare to construct eleven
healthcare institutes in India whose funds will be raised from a collection of
banks such as the UK export credit agency, UK Export Finance as well as leading
investment banks such as Elara Capital. India with a highly skilled resources
and UK with its world-class medical education research and training are well
placed to jointly produce the healthcare professional that cater to the global
demands of the 21st century.
As the world
grappled with the unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need
for strategic partnership and global cooperation for healthcare and emergency
crisis management became more significant. During the pandemic, the strength of
India-UK relationship was shown to the world as both the countries supported
each other’s medical needs and collaborated large-scale vaccine manufacturing,
which saved millions of lives. The Serum Institute of India produce the
COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientist at Oxford/AstraZeneca, while the UK’s
COVID vaccines were developed by India-headquartered Wockhardt. Such
initiatives enabled the two countries to strengthen their platform for research
and innovation in the healthcare field in areas of pharmaceuticals and emerging
areas of digital health, genomics, and artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Even
post-pandemic, British and Indian institutions are collaborating to jointly
train professionals, a fraction of those would be able to serve in the NHS for
a limited period before returning to India and making the “circular economy”
work to advantage in both countries. As the use of technology in the healthcare
sector is burgeoning at a rapid pace, the Indian innovators and disruptors can
take advantage of the British ecosystem to address healthcare delivery. India
invests more in the United Kingdom than any other nation in Europe. The United
Kingdom has some of the most innovative healthcare startups that are keen to
collaborate with partners and customers in India. Startup initiatives launched
in India like Make in India, Start-Up India, Stand-Up India, among others are
enabling entrepreneurs to tap into the global markets and develop strategic
relationships, which could lead to more collaborations, especially in the tech
and healthcare domain.
India-UK collab
in Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial
resistance is rapidly becoming a global public health threat. As per
estimation, more than 700,000 people lose their lives to drug-resistant
infections annually, and the number could increase to 10 million by 2050. Over-consumption
of antibiotics among population is increasing antimicrobial resistance, which
make the treatment of common infections difficult. India consumes a large
volume of broad-spectrum antibiotics that are meant to be used during confirmed
multiple bacterial infections, especially in certain patients who are at high
risk, but these antibiotics are being used sparingly. Largely unrestricted
over-the-counter sales of most antibiotics is the major driver of antibiotic
resistance in India, leading to human losses and high burden of infectious
diseases co-exists with high rates of antimicrobial resistance. Hence, India
and UK have collaborated for addressing the challenges related to antimicrobial
resistance.
As a part of
antibiotic research tie-up with India, UK has planned to provide support and
fund to Indian scientists through the Fleming Fund for developing new
treatments for drug-resistant infections identified by the World Health
Organization. SELECTAR is a research project that involves the
representatives of Indian and UK universities to investigate the impact of
waste releases on the microbial ecosystems, determination of all chemical
components that can select for resistance and at which concentration. Another
research project, AMSPARE (Advanced Metagenomics, Sensors and
Photocatalysis for Antimicrobial Resistance Elimination) brings together
experts on sensor technologies, water treatment and remediation from India to
research the issue of AMR proliferation in the environment. Another big project
involves collaboration of experts from Puducherry and Chennai and the Imperial
College London for the advancement of knowledge to address AMR in the
environment.
UK-India Tie-up to
Promote Digital Health
The United Kingdom is
home to the largest number of digital health platforms. The digital health
ecosystem is a mature market with an average of USD20 million invested per
company. In recent years, the startup activity has increased at a rapid pace,
owing to the leading role of UK in research and unique role that NHS plays. With
rapid digitalization, smartphone penetration, high incidences of lifestyle
disorders, and rising income levels, the adoption of digital health platforms
in India is growing. The UK government has planned to invest USD1.1 million in
Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects that will assist India’s national health
programmes like Ayushman Bharat. Besides, UK-based companies with innovative
healthcare technologies will be participating in India-UK tie-ups, which is
projected to generate £50 million of business for the UK’s digital health
industry. The digital health tie-ups would facilitate greater collaboration on
digital health initiatives including on sharing of best practices. Besides,
joint research and policy engagement on health data for predictive and
precision health care with enhanced focus on machine learning and artificial
intelligence will help both the countries to improve healthcare accessibility
and care for billions of people in both the regions.Web: https://www.techsciresearch.com