Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said there is a need for collective action to deal with rising healthcare cost globally. Mr Prabhu said, with the rise of human life expectancy, there is high demand for medicine globally putting tremendous pressure on pharma and healthcare sector.

Mr Prabhu was speaking after the inauguration of the 6th edition of a three-day International Exhibition of Pharma and Healthcare (iPHEX) under the aegis of Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India in New Delhi. About three hundred fifty exhibitors and six hundred overseas buyers are participating in the event with ten thousand business visitors.

The Minister said solutions should be found to the rising demand of low-cost healthcare services and more investment in R&D seems to be the only tool for the survival of the industry for a long time. He said, rising life style-generated diseases and drug resistance phenomenon are highly concerning issues in the present scenario and nations across the globe are seriously focusing on these problems.