India must spend 5% of its GDP on healthcare, says Amitabh Kant

“India must spend 5% of its GDP on healthcare; this is critical in the long run, as we need to be able to take care of our population,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog at a global webinar on COVID-19 pandemic jointly organized by Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Piramal Foundation.

This webinar brought together thought leaders from across various industries such as science, philanthropy, government and business to discuss issues to consider as India opens up its economy while still managing the COVID-19 crisis. The panelists included Dr. Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson, Piramal Group, Dr. Howard Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dr. Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President – Health Initiatives, The Rockefeller Foundation. The webinar was moderated by Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC TV18.

In the opening address of the webinar Dr. Michelle A. Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships and collaborations to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic as economies open up, along with protecting public health. During the webinar, Amitabh Kant, said, “I am a long term believer in the fact that for India, preventive care at the grass-root level is important.” He further added that NITI Aayog works in close partnership with Piramal Foundation on the Aspirational Districts Program in 112 districts across 28 states in the country. Based on convergence, collaboration and competition, the ADP is perhaps the largest experiment on outcome-focused governance in the world.

Emphasizing on the growing importance of technology to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Swati Piramal said, “We need to leverage technology including artificial intelligence, to get over the pandemic, be it vaccinations, mobile units or tackling co-morbidities — in every case, innovation, information technology and science will make a huge difference.” As a key takeaway from the discussion, Dr. Naveen Rao said, “We need to understand & appreciate as a community, that healthcare workers are our true heroes. It is our responsibility to give them the requisite tools, due recognition, security & housing. We are as strong as our front-line workers.”

The webinar was hosted as part of a webinar series “COVID-19 Outbreak: On the Frontlines” curated by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – India Research Center and Project SANCHAR.

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