Through his welcome address, Dr. Annurag Batra thanked people from the entire medical fraternity who were present for the 5th Edition of BW Businessworld Healthcare summit held at The Imperial in New Delhi today. 

Dr. Batra said that Ayushman Bharat should have happened decades back so that everyone could have an access to the medical services. He also mentioned that people are no longer afraid of discussing mental health issues openly. In front of the august gathering, Mr. Batra also announced that BW Businessworld has launched it’s 12 community which is on Healthcare. He urged people to visit BW Healthcare for further updates on health, medical and allied issues. 

The Keynote speaker Brig (Hony.) Dr. Arvind Lal, Padma Shri, Chairman & MD, Dr. Lal Path Labs formally thanked the entire team of BW and fellow participants. India has one of the lowest public healthcare spends in the world, 4% in 2017-18, expected to reach 2.5% by 2020. Total healthcare expenditure by 2022 is expected to be $372 billion.

Healthcare industry employees 4 million people which is one of the largest service sectors. Private players account for almost 70% of the healthcare delivery market. Dr. Lal said we need 1.3 beds per 1000 people vs the global average of 3.3 per 1000.

"To reach 1.75 beds per 1000 people, we need 1 lac additional beds per year for next 10 years at an investment of USD 10 billion for next 10 years, this means another 10,000 labs and X-ray departments @1 lab/X-ray dept per 100 IPD/200 OPD Patients in the next 10 years," said Dr. Lal.

Dr. Lal also said that, "In India, we need a lot many doctors, nurses and paramedic professionals so that the system can be put in place." 

He also said that we are also quickly losing faith from the doctors due to a few accidental deaths which have been blown out of the proportion by the media. Dr. Lal also said that the media is also playing a vital role in vilifying the medical professionals which is not healthy for the nation. 

Dr. Lal also said that, "due to the government's failure to provide universal healthcare access to all, the trust deficit is building and said that medical professionals too have to follow the code of ethics."