Manthan Project Director Speaks on how Economic Trends Affect the Indian Healthcare Industry

Earlier this month, Amod Kumar, director of the Manthan Project, spoke at the eHealth Healthcare Leader’s Forum in New Delhi, India about how economic trends over the last couple decades have affected—and continue to affect—the Indian healthcare industry. He focused on the increasingly widespread availability of information and communication technology, economic booms that have led to higher tax revenues and better infrastructure, growing household incomes in rural areas, and the rapid growth of medical colleges. He also pointed to the need to create a national brand for rural health care, cultivate more public-private partnership projects, re-engineer information and communication technologies in rural areas, and urge companies to invest more in corporate social responsibility programs.

Keshav Desiraju, the additional secretary of health and family welfare, and Dr. Ashok Kumar, the director of Central Bureau of Health Investigation also spoke at the inaugural session, “Dynamics of the Indian Healthcare Industry: Market Trends and Analysis.” This was one of the many conference sessions that brought together CEOs, administrators, investors, vendors, and experts in the industry to discuss market opportunities, investment needs, best practices, quality control, emerging business models, the role of technology, and human resource management in the healthcare industry.

The IntraHealth-led Manthan Project is a four-year, $4 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the health of mothers and newborns in northern India.