The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) and Centre for East and North East Regional Studies, Kolkata (CENERS−K) in association with Medica Superspecialty Hospital presented ‘Health for Inclusive Growth’ on 16th and 17th December, 2021. Day 1 featured the ECONOMIC SUMMIT: “Health for Development” and HEALTHTECH : “Tech for Saving Lives” was on Day 2, 17th December, 2021.

Welcome Address was delivered by Air Chief Marshal (Rtd.) Arup Raha, President, CENERS−K and Hon. Member and Ambassadeur Extraordinaire, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Opening Address was given by Mr. Abraham George Stephanos, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Managing Director, Tata Steel Downstream Products Limited.

Mr. A Lahiri, Former Director, HUL and Senior VP, Unilever; Convenor, Economic Summit, CENERS−K; Former President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Dr. Alok Roy, Former President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Chairman, Medica Group of Hospitals together introduced the concept ‘Health for Inclusive Growth’. On the first day, 16th December the discussions revolved around “Health for Development” and on the following day 17th December, the emphasis was on “ldblquote Tech for Saving Lives”.

The Opening Session was graced by Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals. She delivered the theme address and said that ‘Inclusive Growth’ has been emphasized mainly after the outbreak of COVID, and the role of healthcare is very important for the inclusive growth. Dr. Reddy suggested that India needs to upgrade its health infrastructure to tackle medical challenges. Better prevention must be the issue of priority than treating the diseases. Furthermore, she recommended that public and private nexus in the healthcare system can improve the healthcare service.

The Keynote Panel : Health for Inclusive Growth in the Opening Session was addressed by Shri Narayan Swaroop Nigam, IAS, Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, Mr. Arnab Basu, Vice President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Advisory Leader and Partner, PwC India, Professor K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India, Ms. Suchita Gupta, Chairman−cum−Managing Director, National Insurance Company Ltd and Dr. Rupali Basu, Managing Director and CEO, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital Limited. The Opening Session was moderated by Dr. Kunal Sarkar, Senior Vice Chairman, Senior Cardiac Surgeon & Head, Medica Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

Session 1 was on ‘Vaccine Economy − How developing economies may push to remain afloat’. Dr. Niranjan Mishra, Director of Public Health, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Odisha deliberated on the impact of vaccination in India. He discussed how vaccines were developed in India and how vaccination process has been carried out, especially in Odisha. Bhubaneswar was the first city that achieved 100 percent vaccination in September 2021. There were mobile vaccination centers in Bhubaneswar to ensure proper and equitable vaccination and also added how health workers were vaccinated during pandemic. Mr. Sayantan Chatterjee, Director−Healthcare Consulting, PwC India moderated the Session.

Session 2 was on Healthcare in North East. The Session was chaired by Lt. Gen. J R Mukherjee, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd), Member Emeritus, Governing Council, Centre for East and North East Regional Studies, Kolkata CENERS−K. The Speakers were Prof. Sandra Albert, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health Shillong, Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India (CSCMÝ), Regional Resource Hub for Health Technologies Assessment in India (RRH−HTAIn) NER, Professor Swati M Patki, HOD, Community Medicine Department, Zoram Medical College, Dr. Jane R. Ralte, Registrar, Zoram Medical College and Dr. Manoj Patki, Associate Professor, Community Medicine Department, Zoram Medical College. Speakers deliberated and discussed on development of North East.

The next Session was on ‘Where do we stand on ‘Health for all’? Interventions at Central and State Levels’ was chaired by Mr. Jayanto Narayan Choudhury, Former DG, National Security Guard. Dr. K Madan Gopal, Senior Consultant (Health), NITI Aayog −National Institute for Transforming India, Prof. Dileep Mavalankar, Director, IIPH Gandhinagar, Dr. Subhash R Salunke, Senior Advisor, PHFI and Officiating Director, IIPH−Bhubaneswar and Dr. Ashish Banerji, Senior Medical Administrator were the distinguished Speakers at the Session. The Speakers deliberated and discussed how to achieve SDG in healthcare, how COVID has diverted the focus on health sector, the challenges and how it has indirectly contributed for the improvement of healthcare.

The last Session of Day 1 was on Role of Corporates in Healthcare and was chaired by Dr. Rabin Chakraborty, Senior Vice Chairman − Cardiology Services & Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist of Medica Superspecialty Hospital. The Session was graced by Dr. T Rajgopal, Chief Operating Officer, Breach Candy Hospital Trust, Mumbai, Prof. ManoshiRoychowdhury, Co−Chairman, Techno India Group and Dr. Arindam Kar, Chief Intensivist, Dept of Critical Care Medicine, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital. In the Session, it has been highlighted that the corporates have been playing a constructive role in the healthcare sector. Corporates have contributed to Indian health system and generated employment and the contribution to public health sector can be well observed in the pandemic.

The 1st Session on Day 2, 17th December, 2021 was on ‘Focus on Achieving Equity With Telehealth’. The Session was chaired by Dr. Rana Mehta, Partner & Healthcare Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited. The Speakers, Mr. Anirban Lahiri, Founder, Medisetter, Vietnam, Mr. Suresh Ramu, Co−founder & CEO, Cytecare Hospitals Pvt Ltd and Mr. Partha Chakraborty, Chief Scientific Officer and Board Member, Arogyam Medisoft Solution Pvt Ltd deliberated and discussed the role of Telemedicine in the current scenario, its importance, challenges, advancements and what more can be done to make it more effective.

The 2nd Session was on ‘Technology empowering paramedics’. The Speakers were Dr Rahul Singh Sardar, Director, ICATT Air Ambulance, Mr. Arindam Bhattacharyya, Faculty Member, George Telegraph, Sr. Santa Sahoo, GM − Nursing Services, AMRI Mukandapur, Dr. Devi Prasad Samaddar, Director − Medical Affairs, Ruby General Hospital, Dr. Samrat Roy, In charge, Critical Care Medicine, Techno India Dama Hospital and Dr. Bharat Sharma, Founder, Dakshas. The Speakers deliberated the role and importance of paramedics and they are also the backbone of medical system, the need to train them properly, to make them proficient in using medico− technological platforms. The Session was chaired by Dr. Sanjay Kapoor, VSM (Retd), Professor & Consultant, Surgical Oncology, Dy Director Medical, Tata Medical Centre.

The last and the 3rd Session chaired by Dr. Rabin Chakraborty, Senior Vice Chairman − Cardiology Services & Senior Consultant, Interventional Cardiologist, Medica Superspecialty Hospital was on ‘Technology advancements in healthcare in surgeries, drugs, and other medical deliveries’. In the highly technical 3rd Session Dr. Sanjay Mehrotra, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist Narayan Hrudyalaya, Bangalore discussed on Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement : A new Technology of Aortic Valve Surgery. Technology advancements in Neurosurgery in 2021 were deliberated by Dr. Ashis Pathak, Former Professor of Neurosurgery, PGIMER, & Director and Neurosurgeon, Fortis Mohali, Chandigarh. Proton Therapy in Oncology and how technology changes the outcome in Cancer patients was deliberated by Dr. Srinivas Chilukuri, Expert in Proton Therapy in Radiation Oncology from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Nano Particle Therapeutic Potentials in Cardiology was discussed by Prof. Amit Dinda, ICMR Emeritus Scientist, Department of Pathology and Chief Coordinator, Center for Medical Innovation & Entrepreneurship(CMIE), All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr. Sibaprasad Raychaudhuri, Professor, University California Davis concluded the Session with his talk on T−cell targeted Therapy for Autoimmune Diseases.