Goa will be top wellness tourism destination: CM

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday addressed the Digital Health Summit of B20 (or Business 20, the official G20 dialogue forum) and told the delegates in Panaji that the Goa government has started Ayush Wellness units at all its primary health centres. He said Goa is striving to become a prominent presence on the wellness tourism map.
“I am proud to say that Goa has one of the best public healthcare infrastructures in the country, both in rural and urban areas,” Sawant said. “We are probably the first to launch universal health insurance for people in the form of our Deendayal Swasthya Seva Yojana.” He was speaking in the presence of Bharati Pawar, the Union minister of state for health and family.
Sawant said that a digital approach can help tackle the issues of access, affordability, and quality. The theme of the B20 Digital Health Summit is ‘Building One Health Together’.
“Such a health system also fits in with the idea of an all-in-all digital nation supported by missions such as Ayushman Bharat and Make in India,” Sawant said.
The delegates included the chairperson of the National Healthcare Council of CII, Naresh Trehan; the chairperson of the CII sub-committee on digital health, Shashank N D; and the additional secretary in the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Lav Agarwal.
“Through the strong support offered by our governments, both at the Centre and states, many healthcare startups are now providing patient-centric care with the help of technology,” Sawant said. “It is now not only possible to monitor a person’s condition at home but also to provide treatment.”
Sawant said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s launch of the National Digital Health Mission was a visionary initiative and the first major step towards Universal Health Coverage in India. He said the PM’s decision to grant Ayush-visas to people from around the world to visit India for Ayush-based treatment and wellness programmes was yet another visionary move.
Sawant said that the 2nd Health Working Group Consultations organised by the ministry of health and family welfare of the Government of India will enable the exchange of information and ideas leading to the creation of a futuristic healthcare roadmap for India.