Organised in Delhi recently, the event saw announcement of ‘Refreshing Research’, a nationwide digital campaign across pharma colleges, along with the release of research papers ‘Role of Healthcare Financing in improving access to state-of-the-art treatments’, a PwC-OPPI study and ‘Leapfrogging India’s Health Outcomes’, a BCG-OPPI study
The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) recently organised Health Dialogue 2019 in Delhi with the mission ‘Health Meets Hope’. The event focussed on the convergence of regulations, financing, technology and advanced pharma science to realise the true healthcare potential for patients across the country. It witnessed policy makers, regulators, global experts, patient groups and members of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry coming together to discuss the need for building an inclusive healthcare ecosystem, with patient well-being at the core. A nationwide digital campaign, ‘Refreshing Research’, across pharma colleges in the country to highlight the role of science and research in improving patient lives, was also announced on the occasion.
Speaking at the event, Kanchana TK, Director General, OPPI, said, “The research-based pharmaceutical industry is proud to be playing its part in the quest to find effective and sustainable solutions to today’s most pressing health concerns. Thanks to the innovative medicines developed by our member companies, patients all over the world are living longer, healthier and more productive lives. ‘Refreshing Research’, OPPI’s digital campaign aims at engaging young minds, thus enabling them to be ambassadors for science and research.”
Beginning with the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs), under the aegis of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, ‘Refreshing Research’ proposes to initiate an inter-collegiate competition among pharma colleges across the country. The contest will encourage participants to come up with innovation/incremental innovation in various areas like women’s health; public health – AMR and vaccines, mental health; supply chain management and sustainability in the pharma industry. An online jury, along with broader participation from the student community, who can publicly vote for their favourites, will award scores to participants. The final scores will have winners emerging with their winning ideas.
The government’s announcement of Ayushman Bharat has stirred a nationwide interest in the subject of healthcare access and universal health coverage. Health Dialogue 2019 provided a platform to discuss multi-faceted approaches to develop an innovative and sustainable healthcare financing model.
A Vaidheesh, President, OPPI and Managing Director – India and Vice President – South Asia, Glaxo SmithKline Pharmaceuticals, said, “India’s public health system is taking steps in the right direction, with the introduction of Ayushman Bharat and most individual states having health coverage in place. With the end objective of providing solutions to healthcare coverage for all, the PwC-OPPI study titled ‘Role of Healthcare Financing in improving access to state-of-the-art treatments’ illustrates the mechanism of market-based model for financing treatment of serious conditions like lung cancer. This small step, we believe, will be the beginning of solutioning healthcare coverage for serious ailments in providing a multiple stakeholder innovative financing model.”
On the role of technology in impacting health outcomes, he elaborated, “A technology-enabled path to achieve better health outcomes could have significant economic benefit to the country. The BCG-OPPI report titled, ‘Leapfrogging India’s Health Outcomes’ clearly outlines the need for government and private sector to come together and create a new ecosystem that factors the convergence of healthcare and technology towards implementation of healthcare initiatives. With the government’s intent to increase healthcare spend to five to six per cent of GDP, it calls for multi-stakeholder participation in all areas of patient care. The time to unlock the healthcare potential for citizens in India has arrived and the next few years are critical as they will put India on the leapfrogging trajectory of enhanced health.”
Andre Muste, Regional VP – APAC, Merck Biopharma, brought out an important aspect of healthcare. He talked about women’s health and emphasised, “If we have more women who are healthy, our economy will be better.” Further, speaking on research, he said, “Researched innovative pharma products is the need of the hour. People in India need to get better researched medicines.”
Adding to it Dr YK Gupta, Principal Advisor (Projects), Translational Health Science And Technology Institute (THSTI), said, “Assuring quality of a medicine is the joint responsibility of the government, regulator, pharma industry and the stakeholders.”
Lara Bezerra, Managing Director, Roche India, claimed that India has enough potential to leapfrog healthcare. Discussing India’s dominance as a global leader in the pharmaceutical industry, she said, “ If there is one country we can leapfrog healthcare using innovation, it’s India.”
However, one of the important concerns of the pharma industry is drug prices. It was raised by Dr Vinod K Paul, Member, Niti Aayog, who said, “When it comes to price control, government of India is striving to be stable, so that it does not disturb the expectations of the industry.”
Also present at the occasion was Masukh L Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Shipping and Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers highlighted the importance of ‘health is wealth’. He said, “If a country has to be developed, it needs to consider ‘health is wealth’ because it can’t grow without its healthy citizens.”
The minister also felicitated the awards to a number of people who have contributed immensely towards pharma industry and better healthcare. The awards are as below:
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr Sarada Menon, Founder and Advisor, Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), for her tireless dedication towards improving mental health in India. Posthumous DG Shah, Founder, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, for his long-standing contribution to the pharmaceutical industry in India.
Special Recognition
Dr Gagandeep Kang, Executive Director, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), for her unparalleled work in studying the transmission, development and prevention of enteric infections and their sequelae in children in India.
Dr YK Gupta, Principal Advisor (Projects), THSTI, for his tireless efforts in building an innovation-driven pharmaceutical ecosystem in India.
Access Champions 2019
Dr A Seema from Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) was recognised for her contribution towards improving women’s health.
Geeta Verma from Shakardahra Health sub-centre in Jhanjeli block of Mandi was recognised for her work in child health.
Mritunjay Kumar Tiwary, Project Head and Trustee, Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospitals was felicitated for his commitment towards improving healthcare access in India.
OPPI Scientist Awards 2019
Dr Gajendra Pal Singh Raghava, Head — Computational Biology, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, won the ‘scientist of the year’ award.
Dr Nirmala Jagadish, Staff Scientist, Cancer Research Programme (CRP), National Institute of Immunology, bagged the ‘woman scientist of the year’ award.
Dr Sandip B Bharate, Principal Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry Division, CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, was recognised as the ‘young scientist of the year’.
Later in the day, celebrated Indian Olympic Boxer Mary Kom also participated in the summit. Highlighting the importance of staying healthy and fit, she said, “Staying healthy and fit is critical not just for sports, but for living itself. I am a living proof to ‘Health Meets Hope’, the mission for the OPPI Health Dialogue 2019. As a winner both inside and outside the boxing ring, I believe that good health makes life hopeful and fuller. I recognise and appreciate the years of research devoted by researchers towards transforming human lives, as it is similar to the years of rigorous training a sportsperson undergoes. And, success lies in reaching new heights and setting benchmarks that push boundaries. So, to all the researchers out there, keep refreshing your research and let’s continue to punch above our weight.”
(With inputs from Akanki Sharma)
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