Paul made the remarks when speaking at the closing day of the three-day meeting of the G20 India Health Task Force here on Friday.
Speaking on the occasion, Paul said: “There is tremendous opportunity to use traditional medical practices such as Ayurveda in the medical value travel sector, which is experiencing a combined annual growth rate of more than 23 per cent.”
At the same time, he also touched on the need to build a resilient and sustainable MVT framework.
“MVT could focus on maintaining, improving or restoring health through medical intervention rather than the common parlance of visiting another country for medication. It can be achieved by providing access to quality, cost-effective healthcare, transparent pricing, hassle-free travel to medically valuable travel destinations, achieving Universal Health Coverage and ensuring low waiting time for medical treatment,” he said.
Advertisement
Paul also highlighted four key enablers to achieving Universal Health Coverage, which include incorporating digitization and technological advances; renewing the focus on holistic healing through integrated healthcare offerings; effective quality assurance through regulation, standardization, accreditation and simplification of institutional procedures; and form alliances between interested parties for the convergence of health, hotel and travel services.
Emphasizing strengthening the ecosystem for MVT, Paul underscored the need for an effective governance and policy framework, including the creation of a dedicated MVT board and agency.
He stressed the need to develop standards and accreditation for healthcare facilities and medical travel facilitators and called for enabling digitization in the MVT segment.
He further highlighted the need to ensure the availability of health insurance portability and coverage of traditional medicine systems under insurance policies at the international level, improving accessibility and patient experience through a liberalized visa policy and better air connectivity, and developing the capacity of personal and medical care companies.
Support for the Heal in India, Heal by India and Heal from India initiatives
Focusing on India’s efforts and vision, Paul said, “The government will launch the ‘Heal in India’ initiative to leverage its healthcare services for international patients, the ‘Heal by India’ initiative to dispatch its healthcare workforce to other countries. He also emphasized India’s enormous strength in the telemedicine sector, which could pave the way for the ‘Heal from India’ initiative.”
Source: IANS
