Emphasising that health expenses are pushing 63 million Indians into poverty annually, Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, Founder of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms, addressed the multi-stakeholder roundtable conference as the chief guest on Ethical business practices and integrity in healthcare, held at FTCCI on Thursday. Jayaprakash also noted that the roundtable was timely and necessary.
The event was organised in collaboration with the FTCCI, an outreach partner and Kapiti Group, a knowledge partner.
Speaking at the roundtable, Jayaprakash Narayan said that 63 million Indians are pushed into poverty by health expenses each year and are unable to access healthcare.
Affordability is also a major issue, he said. When people lack access to quality healthcare, they are not concerned about economic growth. This was reflected in the recent poll verdict, which was a cry of despair.
Dr Jayaprakash Narayan also mentioned that India spends just 1.2% of its GDP on healthcare. Despite long years of governance, successive governments have not increased it to 2%, and no such increase is expected soon. America spends 18% of its GDP on healthcare, the highest among developed countries and the UK spends around 12%.
Though the country spends large amounts on education and healthcare, it still fails to achieve meaningful outcomes, he added.
Dr Jayaprakash Narayan said that professional regulation has failed in India. The unions of these professionals safeguard their interests and regulation remains a problem. India needs a well-conceived professional regulatory mechanism.
The conference was organised by UN Global Compact Network India, a UN body that supports Indian companies, SMEs, institutions, media houses, corporate foundations and industry chambers committed to responsible business practices. They aim to institutionalise the ten universal principles of the UN Global Compact, covering human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
The inaugural function of the roundtable was attended by Meela Jayadev, President of FTCCI, Ashok Singha, Senior Vice-President of FTCCI and Tarakeswari Polaki, Founder and Director of Kapiti Group.
