India’s healthcare sector is a sustainable economic driver

BENGALURU: HEALTH IS WEALTH, our health industry through pharmaceutical exports and medical tourism is driving our sustainable progress to a 5 trillion and above economy. Our medical education needs a rapid and massive expansion to stop the loss of talent and resources to other countries where our future doctors are migrating.

A surplus of medical and health related training facilities can instead attract global talent and resources to India. Health, education, nutrition, telemedicine and tele-education industries with sustainable medical tourism and green manufacturing of disposables, medical devices and equipment would enable India to become the ‘Provider to the world’ of the present ‘Pharmacy of the world’ and the largest peace and prosperity promoting sustainable global economy.

INDIAN PHARMA AND JAN AUSHADHI KENDRAS: The Indian pharmaceutical industry’s manufacturing capacity is estimated at $65 billion. China has shut down many of our active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers by dumping these APIs in the Indian market. Dependence on China has implications for both the quality and reliability of our drug supplies. India needs to regain self-sufficiency in basic chemical manufacturing, agrochemicals and pharmaceutical chemical intermediates, and then natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic APIs. Jan Aushadhi Kendras went global when the first such dedicated outlet for Indian generic medicines at affordable prices was inaugurated in Mauritius on 17th July 2024, jointly by Mr Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India, and the Prime Minister of Mauritia, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.

More such outlets worldwide would benefit our pharmaceutical exports and global customer base for affordable medicines, dietary supplements, vaccines, medical disposables and devices. Quality and prices can be controlled and fake, substandard medicines and shady middlemen can be weeded out through such outlets, thereby protecting the reputation of Indian Pharma.

Government agencies DGFT and Department of Revenue are setting up e-commerce hubs to provide fast customs and security clearances, integrated with efficient logistics to streamline online exports, which will boost exports of pharmaceuticals, medical disposables and equipment. Western regulators are questioning the quality of Indian pharmaceuticals. Misinformation – smearing our exports by competing multinationals, price cutting and dumping to shut down our industries, legal battles over infringement of intellectual property rights (IP), allegations of inadequate occupational safety and health regulations, quota restrictions, discriminatory rules of origin and claims of exchange rate manipulation are various Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) imposed on our exports.

MEDICAL TOURISM CURE IN INDIA: The tourism industry was crippled by the pandemic and is now facing a setback in Europe due to overcrowding, inflation, shortages and littering. The high carbon footprint, pollution and environmental damage highlight the unsustainability of mass tourism. Medical tourism, on the other hand, is an essential service and sustainable. India can provide high-quality healthcare at a low cost to a large part of the world’s population that cannot access it locally.

More than 2 million patients visit India every year from 78 countries. Many Indian hospitals have translators for non-English speaking patients. India ranks 10th in the Medical Tourism Index (MTI) for 2020-21 out of 46 global destinations by the Medical Tourism Association. India’s medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$ 9 billion by 2022.