Hassan Cheruppa
Saudi Gazette
Gulf investors as well as consumers look into the vibrant Indian healthcare and pharmaceutical market to tap its huge potential to serve their interests. For this, they demand a number of prerequisites, the foremost of which is further standardization and easing of procedures apart from increasing proper awareness about the facilities and services. This was the major outcome of a brainstorming session on “Healthcare/healthcare tourism/pharma” at the 4th GCC-India Industrial Forum concluded at King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh on Thursday.
The session discussed how Indian and GCC companies could work together in the field of healthcare. It was identified that the growing demand for healthcare services coupled with regulatory changes and emphasis on quality healthcare makes the GCC huge potential for the Indian healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. The speakers at the session were Muhammad Batterjee, general manager of pharmaceutical division in Batterjee Medical College Group-Saudi Arabia, Dr. Khaled Al-Awadhi, president and CEO of the Foundation Gulf of Technology Holding, and Dr. S. Chandrakumar, convener of Confederation of Indian Industry Tamil Nadu Medical Tourism Panel and managing director of Sri Kaveri Medical Care, Trichy.
Indian Consul General B.S. Mubarak, who moderated the session, gave the participants an outline about the great potential of Indian healthcare sector, with its unique features of top quality and affordability. Commenting on the take away of the session, Mubarak told Saudi Gazette that the session was highly fruitful in the sense that it enabled the Gulf investors to have an overall picture of the vast opportunities in the Indian healthcare and pharmaceutical market, which also provides the nearest healthcare destination for patients to have top quality healthcare at rates that amount to only 10-20 percent of the cost in most Western countries.
“The three stakeholders in the market —government, insurance companies and private health providers — have conflicting interests. The government wants to ensure from the other two parties that they have to provide good quality healthcare but at a reduced rate. However, the insurance companies and health providers are ready to provide this at a higher rate,” he told the session while stressing the need to achieve sustainability in providing quality and affordable healthcare.
Mubarak also highlighted the quality healthcare provided by the Saudi government hospitals. “We had been witnesses to this when we saw the top quality healthcare provided at government hospitals in Makkah and Jeddah to those pilgrims who sustained injuries during the unfortunate Mina stampede in September.” The consul general cited two examples for quality healthcare at lower prices in India. The Narayana Health in Karnataka and Aravind Healthcare in Madurai of Tamil Nadu are the best examples for heart and eye operations respectively.
Agreeing with his views, Batterjee drew attention to the lack of standardization in providing healthcare in India. “Some of the hospitals have five stars while some others have one star in the quality of their facilities and services.” He urged the Indian government to take steps to introduce standardization so that many Gulf citizens could be its beneficiaries.
While appreciating the standard and affordability of Indian healthcare market, Al-Awadhi emphasized that India’s generic medicine is one of the most attractive area for both Gulf investors and consumers. He called for making this area more open to the Gulf people.
On his part, Chandrakumar spoke about the vast opportunities for Gulf investors in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. “The state alone hosts about 40 percent of the total foreigners who arrive in India, seeking quality and affordable healthcare. Within a decade, several corporate and super specialty hospitals have sprung up in the state, and their cost ranges between 10 and 20 percent of the rates at US hospitals for the same treatment,” he said.
