‘Technology can help in furthering research in areas such as bioinformatics’
Calling upon the private sector to work towards creating innovative models in healthcare to make it affordable to all, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys, has said it is important to leverage information technology to provide cost-effective and pervasive healthcare.
He was here on Friday to deliver the graduation day address at the JSS Medical College.
Mr. Murthy said IT had the ability to intervene in medical solutions on a real-time basis while technology helped in furthering research in areas such as bioinformatics, genomics etc., which could assist in reducing drug discovery costs and help in moving towards patient-specific solutions to medical problems.
Telemedicine
Citing telemedicine as an example of effective use of ICT in healthcare, Mr. Murthy said it could be hugely levereaged for providing accessible and affordable healthcare.
In this context, he mentioned ‘E-Health Point Service’ that combined the use of tele-medicines and ICT to deliver a three-way, affordable healthcare service in Punjab. Mobile units with video and audio based medical conversation facilities were used to facilitate patients in remote villages to consult doctors in city-based hospitals.
Challenges
Mr. Murthy said India though India had made rapid strides in medical education and health care since Independence, the country had a long way to go. Many residents in rural areas and the poor in urban areas did not have proper access to healthcare.
The availability of qualified medical professionals was another problem. Owing to the lack of financial inclusion, the poor were not able to receive proper medicare.
Citing a report from ASSOCHAM Council on healthcare, Mr. Murthy said the accessibility to hospitals or medicines would remain a distant dream for about 70 per cent of Indians, particularly in rural areas, India until 2040.
“While countries such as the U.S.A spend 17 per cent of its GDP on healthcare, India spends only 4 per cent, while hospitalisation and medicare costs have increased over the years,” he said.
Mr. Murthy gave away medals and awards to the toppers and P. Shasthara walked away with the maximum number of prizes and medals having topped in 13 of the 14 subjects.
Suttur seer Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swami, and B.Suresh, Vice- Chancellor, JSS University were present.
‘India spends only 4 p.c. of GDP on healthcare’ ‘Urban poor don’t have proper access to healthcare’
