The International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), Delhi – India’s leading institute in the hospital and healthcare management domain – hosted a national conference on urban health on February 24-25. Held at the IIHMR campus in Dwarka, the conference was an impressive coming together of experts, thought leaders, scholars, academicians and researchers from the medical and healthcare fraternity. They met, deliberated and discussed vital issues pertaining to urban health and came up with solutions to improve and streamline the system. The event featured eight scintillating sessions spread over two days in which more than 200 delegates from all over the country participated.
The conference generated intensive debate and discussion and created a platform for doctors, healthcare professionals, industry representatives, policymakers and regulators from across the country to take note of developments in the field and suggest strategies for better delivery of urban healthcare.
The conference started with the traditional lighting of lamps and welcome address by Dr. A. K. Khokhar, Dean (Training), IIHMR, Delhi and the organising secretary of the Conference.
The inaugural address was delivered by chief guest Professor O. P. Kalra, vice chancellor, Pt. B. D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana who highlighted the need to give more attention to urban health.
Dr. Vikas Kishor Desai, founder secretary, Urban Health Society of India was the guest of honour at the inaugural session. She stated the need for public health professional to work with the government to address the bottlenecks in reaching out to the vulnerable.
Introducing the theme and its relevance, Dr Sanjiv Kumar, director, IIHMR Delhi, said, “As an institution that tries to create meaningful platforms for intellectual debates and discussions on important health issues, IIHMR took this opportunity to bring together prominent voices from all over India on the challenges faced by the urban health system.” Prof. Kumar further added, “Platforms such as these provide an opportunity for intellectuals from diverse fields to exchange ideas and suggest solutions that can help in providing better healthcare for citizens.”
Dr. Sanjay K. Rai, professor, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and vice president, India Public Health Association delivered a special address on ‘Learning from Urban Field Practices Area’ And stressed the need for medical colleges to set up model urban health facilities in the country.
The first session – which focused on ‘Quality of Care in Urban Health’ – was chaired by Dr Girdhar Gyani, founder director, Association of Health Providers India.
There were ten scientific paper presentations in students category for awards selected from more than 40 papers received.
On the second day, the theme was ‘Healthcare Financing’. Gautam Chakraborty, specialist health financing, USAID was the chair and L M Singh, project director, PAHAL, IPE Global & CEO, Ajooni Impact Investment Advisors was the keynote speaker.
There were discussions on vital issues related to healthcare financing: expanding credit for affordable healthcare markets; impact bonds – an innovative way of improving quality of healthcare; viable mechanisms for insuring healthcare and synergies with recently announced National Health Protection Scheme and Healthcare Insurance: A Provider Perspective.
Speaking at the valedictory session, the chief guest Dr. J. P Narain, World Health Organisation, addressed the present day challenges in urban health.
Proposing the vote of thanks, Dr. Khokhar said, “The kind of intellectual discussion we have had over the last two days reflects the hard work put in by IIHMR Delhi. We have all benefitted immensely from two days of stimulating deliberations. I would like to thank the delegates for their enthusiastic participation and making the conference a success. I amhopeful that suggestions emanating from the conference would go a long way in improving the urban health system in India.”
Dr. Kumar announced the award-winning papers in oral and poster presentation by postgraduate students. He also announced that IIHMR Delhi will organise an International Conference on Health in Sustainable Development Goals in August 2019.
The conference was a melting pot of ideas on ways to improve urban health and likely to influence strategies and policies in healthcare.