The Dutch and Indian expertise in digital technologies, apex Healthcare industry body-NATHEALTH and the Netherlands Embassy organized a Digital Health Conference on 24th June in New Delhi. The conference aimed at driving digital innovation in healthcare.  

The Dutch healthcare experts are in India on a Digital Health Mission to explore bilateral collaborations in the sector. The Conference brought the Dutch Delegation in contact with relevant stakeholders from the ecosystem to help forge partnerships in the eHealth domain.  

While welcoming the experts, NATHEALTH Secretary General Mr. Siddhartha Bhattacharya said, “Our main agenda was to understand how both countries can work in partnership to address common challenges faced by the sector and co create solutions. Digital health awaits a huge opportunity as the country aspires to become a middle-income nation by 2030 given its technological penetration, advancing economy and accelerating healthcare industry.”  

“To achieve the goal of Universal Health Care with continuum of care across primary, secondary and tertiary facilities, digital interventions would play the role of a powerful catalyst. Digital health interventions, with huge opportunities for investment and penetration, would make India a global leader,” he added.  

Highlighting Dutch expertise and a need for collaboration in the digital healthcare space, Mr. Ron Roozendaal, Director of Information Policy and CIO Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Netherlands said, “Life Science and health is priority sector for strategic investment in both the Netherlands and India. Growing market opportunities in India, combined with the Netherlands’ strengths in areas such as Digital Health, Medical devices and Diagnostics create excellent opportunities for partnerships that address shared societal challenges with smart solutions.,”  

“India and the Netherlands have a joint ambition to provide high-quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to all. Rapid developments in India create opportunities for the adoption of e-health concepts from the Netherlands and the joint development of new solutions that help bring care from the hospital to the home. We look forward to explore these opportunities during this mission and learn about new approaches that might help address challenges faced in both our countries,” he added  

During the session experts highlighted the benefits of digital health and said that it is time for the healthcare industry at large to step up its efforts for better outcomes. The experiences of digital health technology forerunners (such as The Netherland) provide collaboration opportunities with key partners like India. 

The session also showcased on existing PPPs in Med-Tech/ e-Health space and highlighted Global Stars collaboration on Medical Robotics between IIT-M and Eindhoven Medical Robotics. Cardiac AI Program (Apollo Hospitals, Microsoft & MUMC), Living Lab on eHealth & Med-Tech drew much attention of the experts. These success stories indicated both potential and opportunities in digital health space.  

The area of digital healthcare is also a central theme for the India-Netherlands Technology Summit in October this year. The iconic annual conference-cum-exposition organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, will celebrate Indo-Dutch excellence in science, technology and innovation in especially the NEXUS of water-agrifood-health.  

“This digital health mission is an important springboard for the India-Netherlands Tech Summit 2019 in October. Digital Health, Medical Devices & Diagnostics, and Therapeutics & Vaccines, are important pillars for the Indo-Dutch cooperation focused on affordable & accessible healthcare. Health will be a central theme for the Techsummit 2019 where we will focus on the NEXUS of Water-Agrifood-Health,” said Freek Jan Frerichs, Counsellor, Holland Innovation Network, Embassy of the Netherlands in India.  

In a system like Ayushman Bharat, digital healthcare will play a big role along with Analytics to ensure the facilities are in sync with the needs of patients, and to prevent the misuse of the scheme. The aim of the discussion was to invite relevant stakeholders for joint proposition towards resolving and co-creating innovative solutions for global challenges. The discussion was around digital Health, how the power of analytics can be leveraged, cloud and big data to ensure delivery of healthcare of services to places where doctors cannot be present in person.  

NATHEALTH and the Dutch Digital Mission is expected to bring in much needed synergies and partnerships to create a robust health system that tackle the shared challenges we face today.