B.N. Gangadhar, Director, NIMHANS, made a case for non-allopathic treatments to be included in the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY).
He was speaking at ‘AYUSMAT 2020’ a healthcare leadership summit on ‘Disruptive Innovation: The Future Landscape of Healthcare’ at the Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore (IIM-B).
“Certain long-standing traditional practices of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) should be covered under AB-PMJAY. This will encourage and revive alternative medicines. However, a proper foolproof mechanism for this should be in place,” he said, adding that there was a need to move from illness treatment to wellness promotion. “Integrated medicine model with polytherapy or polypharmacy plays a role in achieving this goal,” he said.
Shankar Venkatagiri of the IIM-B, while moderating a session on Digital Innovations in Healthcare said the industry should make use of the technological advancements to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to the public.
“Now, a lot is being spent on secondary healthcare. Taking care of primary healthcare is important and if that happens, then, secondary care will not become a burden, problem,” he said.