New Delhi, Oct 8 (FN Agency) Former chairman of National Health Systems (NHS), England and Chancellor at the University of York Sir Malcolm Grant assessed that India spends “too little on the healthcare compared to the economic power it has turned into”. “Considering the factors like population and co-morbid cohort, India should invest at least 18 per cent of its GDP on healthcare,” he said while speaking at India Today Conclave on Friday. Sharing insights from the western countries, Grant informed that France and UK spend 8-9 per cent of their GDP on healthcare, 11 per cent is contributed by France while the USA spends 18 per cent. “However, it’s not just the amount one spends but the quality of the healthcare services the allocated budget provides,” he added.
Meanwhile, Malcolm also said that digital innovations in the healthcare sector are important to enhance health coverage among the population. We have seen that facilitates like telehealth has benefitted a lot amid the pandemic. Such Digital innovations can allow healthcare to access far off and remote areas. New technology in health will shape the future better,” he further said. He also suggested that taking advantage of the digitisation, counties should train a new workforce that is tech-savvy and can make optimum use of the technology in bridging the gap between healthcare and its access to the people. The former NHS chair also called for more investment in science and technology. “The triumph of this pandemic has been a vaccine and developed at a remarkable rate. This calls for further investment in science and vaccines to not miss the opportunity.
Further investment is needed in public health to avoid and limit the scope for the disaster by horrible diseases,” he said. He also asked people to keep follow COVID-appropriate behavior. “The hospitalisation and infection rate has come down due to vaccines but we are at risk of turning complacent. The pandemic is still raging,” Grant warned.