India Is An Example Where We Use Technology To Make Efficient Services Available: Vice President

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said that India is a global example where we have used technology for making available efficient services to the people. He also said that technology enables accessibility and reduces out of pocket expenditure for citizens.

Dhankhar was speaking at the inaugural of second International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment (ISHTA) 2023 at NITI Aayog, which was organised by Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centre for Global Development.

The symposium with the theme “Affordability, Availability and Accessibility of Healthcare Technologies through Evidence generated by Health Technologies Assessments (HTA) for Universal Health Coverage” has provided a platform for stakeholders such as academia, researchers, policy makers, industry, to share their views on importance of HTA, international perspective on health technology use and host first ever HTA marketplace in the country, providing knowledge and product sharing platform. The symposium was attended by about 250 participants.

Speaking about significance of health technologies and its assessment processes, Dhankhar threw light on the crucial nature of technology in ensuring equity. He said,“technology is a turning point in ensuring quality governance. The availability of healthcare services especially in the recently opened Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) is a gamechanger for a common citizens.”

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that assessments of public interventions taken for public welfare are the need of the hour. “This will allow establishing efficient processes and work as a feedback mechanism for better cost-effectiveness of programmes and initiatives,” the minister added.

Reflecting upon India’s age-old ethos and civilizational essence of considering Health as a service, Mandaviya said that health is considered a service in our country and engaging in health sector, gives one the opportunity to serve the humanity as against considering it for commercial exploitation.

Heralding the session on Health Technology Assessment, Dr. Vinod Kumar Paul of NITI Aayog said that country has taken huge leap in terms of steps for the betterment of countrymen. Responding to the needs of local stakeholders and creating strong health systems at local level will be a boon in coming future.

He said, “our responsibility remains to work with the available resources and come up with efficient and highest possible outcomes. For this Health Technology assessment will be crucial.”

The symposium also hosted a Market Place that showcased the prominent HTA recommendations that has been implemented by the State and the Central Government. Some of the Health technologies that were displayed –ABR Hearing Screening device for neonates, Sickle cell diagnostic kits, Safety Engineered Syringes, Portable ECG, Cy Tb for TB diagnosis, Low cost ventilators and Neonatal Resuscitators among others.