Exhibition

'Healthex 2010 Can Become RSNA'

The exhibition was inaugurated by Ramchandra Gowda

At the inauguration

Being Asia's largest emerging market, India should look forward to improving the competitive strength of healthcare sector in order to meet the emerging healthcare challenges, said Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Director, Medanta and Chairman of CII's National Committee on Healthcare. Dr Trehan was speaking at the first edition of Healthex, the international exhibition on medical surgical and diagnostic equipment, technology, materials, supplies and allied services that was held at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) in Bangaluru from 16th to 19th July. Co-hosted by CII, over 80 companies participated in Healthex. It was attended by over 3,500 delegates.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Ramchandra Gowda, Minister for Medical Education, Government of Karnataka, along with Dr Prathap Reddy, Founder and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, Chairman, CII National Health Council and Chairman, Healthex, Dr Naresh Trehan, Hari Bhartia, President CII, JN Godrej, Chairman, BIEC, and Anjan Bose, Vice President and Head, Professional and Public Affairs, Philips Electronics India. In his address, Dr Prathap Reddy, said, "There is a need to increase the doctor and patient ratio and this can be done only by increasing hospital facilities across the country." He further suggested that Bangaluru can become a fixed destination for the medical devices event every year much like Chicago hosting the exhibition of Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

The first day also had some thought-provoking sessions. The session on 'Integrating Technology for Transforming Healthcare' covered topics like strengthening rural health, innovative healthcare solutions for better healthcare, EMR, EPMS, role of ICT in transforming healthcare, moving medical devices into home and technology partnerships in arresting costs. The second session on 'CEOs Roundtable on Vision of 21st Century Healthcare System' had discussion on recent health policy initiatives taken by Government, health disparity, and community outreach, new trends and drivers outside India, connecting ecosystems, PPP in healthcare, consumer-driven healthcare coverage and integrated medicine. Vishal Bali, CEO, Fortis Hospitals Limited, while speaking on the strides that Indian healthcare delivery has made in the recent times, said, "Who would have thought 10 years back that an Indian healthcare company could have a stake in a Singapore company (referring to Fortis's stake in Parkway)? Or the fact that surgeons from China are preferring to come to India over the US for training." Dr Nandkumar Jairman, Chairman, Columbia Asia, said, "A family physician should be able to treat most of the ailments. Why does one need to go to a neuro surgeon for head ache?" A Vaidheesh, MD, J&J Medical India, said, "The common misconception in India is that health insurance is equal to financial investment. It is no surprise that most insurance companies are bleeding in health insurance sector because of the way that they design their products."

EH News Bureau