×
Why NSoJ » Global Advisory Board Alumni Collaborations NSoJ Method Campus Placements
Programmes » NSoJ Law (BA LLB) Postgraduate Programmes PG Diploma in Journalism (PGDJ) Undergraduate Programmes B.A. Journalism (hons.) B.Sc. Psychology (hons) B.A. English (hons.) B.A. Political Science (hons.)
Admissions » Admissions Process Application Forms Fees
Faculty
The Tannoy - Digital News Website
Talks @ NSoJ »
Gallery »
Slant @ NSoJ » Contact » NSoJ Community » Prospectus 2024-25 »

Rebuilding India’s Enterprises: A discussion on Public Policy Responses Affecting India's Healthcare Sector

AHPI President, Dr. Alexander Thomas, explains the challenges faced by the healthcare sector, while discussing possible measures to combat the COVID crisis.

Dr. Alexander Thomas, President AHPI / NSoJ

Video by

Features

Anika Gomez

The second virtual talk as part of the series Talks @ NSoJ, was conducted by National School of Journalism and Public Discourse on Tuesday, 5 May 2020. The discussion featured Dr. Alexander Thomas (President, Association of Healthcare Providers India), Augustus Azariah (HR Head, IBM India), Manu Seshadri (Managing Partner, MSA). The talk commenced at 7 PM and was moderated by Timothy Franklyn (Founder, NSoJ) and Saswati Chakravarty (Former Editor, The Economic Times).

Addressing Issues

Dr. Alexander Thomas (APHI), led the discussion by addressing the issues faced by healthcare facilities. His talk, divided into three segments, focused on the health sector pre-COVID, the current situation of the healthcare sector and its future prospects. Reflecting on the poor state of government healthcare facilities, Dr. Thomas discussed the occupancy of the private healthcare industry, while also addressing the main issue behind the failure of government aided healthcare.

According to Dr. Thomas, the shortage of specialists across all states seems to be the key reason as to why government facilities are struggling to compete with larger, privately funded hospital chains. Ironically, there is no shortage of doctors within the country. Dr. Thomas addresses the fact that there are thousands of qualified medical graduates who have studied abroad, and are unable to practice medicine because of the low percentage of qualifiers in the NEET examinations.

Dr. Thomas also addressed the poor standard of medical equipment, limited usage of technology and India’s history of importing equipment from China. Referring to the demand for healthcare professionals is, given the current crisis, Dr. Thomas pointed out that prior to the global spread of the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry decided to phase out the General Nursing and Midwifery Diploma. He also took into account the number of B.Sc Nurses who emmigrate to other countries for better livelihoods.

India’s Response to the pandemic

According to Dr. Thomas, India was not entirely unprepared for a situation such as the current COVID-19 crisis. He believes that the government is closely working with the private health sector, working on strategic measures that will aid the general public if there was to be a dramatic spike in the number of cases. Dr. Thomas highlighted the low morale of healthcare workers, addressing the fact that many professionals are on the frontline, unequipped. In reference to the decrease in income due to the fall in outpatients and elective surgeries, Dr. Thomas elaborated on the economic issues faced in hospitals and the lack of pay for healthcare professionals.

Dr. Thomas highlighted that the main victims of this crisis are those who are unable to access treatment for various ailments. He also acknowledged the role of AHPI (Association of Healthcare Providers India) and their efforts in legalizing telemedicine, which he believes will aid people with quality care.

Future outlook

In the final segment of his talk, he addressed the healthcare industry’s journey ahead. It will be very unwise, stated Dr. Thomas, for the government to let private health institutions close. Explaining that the private sector would shut down without the government's active participation during this crisis, Dr. Thomas expressed the need for cooperation between the government and the private sector.

Dr. Thomas highlighted the importance of technology and its role as a vital tool in making healthcare affordable. He also stated that cutting the costs of tuition at medical colleges would result in an increase of healthcare professionals. In his concluding statements, Dr Thomas stressed that India does not lack human resources. He believes that by combining affordable and quality education, along with the cooperation of the government through an increase in the healthcare budget and upgradating of public hospitals, India can not only combat the crisis but also provide aid to other nations.

All stories that are reported, edited and published on this platform are original, produced by the students and faculty of National School of Journalism, sometimes contributed by guest faculty and speakers. If you would like to contribute, please email us at tannoy@nsoj.in NSoJ is a news organisation and a highly-selective Journalism school that trains India’s best journalistic talents to become ethical journalists who care deeply about truth, justice and democracy. If you are passionate about journalism and care about the core values of journalism as we do, please apply for a place in one of NSoJ’s programmes - Bachelor of Arts or PG Diploma in Journalism at www.nsoj.in.