By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) will give more teeth to healthcare by emphasising on accessibility and affordability, a member of the plan panel said here Wednesday.
“Health and manufacturing affordable means of healthcare will be priority areas. The medical technology industry needs to understand the demands of the Indian market for innovation in the health sector,” Planning Commission member Arun Maira said at the fourth conference on medical technology organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“With over 80 percent of healthcare services met by corporations, a large part of the populace still finds itself outside the ambit of delivery mechanisms,” he noted.
While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his Independence Day speech, announced that health would be deemed a priority area, experts said indigenous players in the health sector will have to be given more suport to achieve the target.
“With a population of 1.2 billion, support should be given to indigenous manufacturers in addressing the issues of quality and narrowing the technology gap we have in healthcare,” said Naresh Trehan, chairman of the CII National Committee on Healthcare.