Indo UK Institute of Health (IUIH), one of the largest public-private partnership (PPP) healthcare infrastructure projects in the world, shall be signing a MoU with the Assam government for setting up an integrated IUIH Medicity in the state. To be signed during Advantage Assam, Assam Global Investors’ Summit, this initiative shall deliver to the people of the state world-class NHS standard healthcare that’s available, affordable and accountable.
The Indo UK Institute of Health (IUIH) Medicity Programme was announced as a joint statement between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former prime minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron in 2015. The programme involves an investment of Rs 17,600 crores into Indian healthcare aimed at benefitting over 400 million Indians by opening 11 institutes across India in partnership with the world’s best healthcare system – the National Health Service (NHS), UK.
According to Dr Ajay Rajan Gupta, managing director and group CEO, IUIH, “With this MoU, we have expanded our presence to the 12th state in India taking the overall investment to Rs 19,200 crores. Each IUIH Medicity, including the one to come up in Assam, shall be developed with an investment outlay of Rs 1,600 crores and have a 1000-bed hospital in association with one of UK’s leading NHS hospital. Up to 20% patients will be given free treatment at IUIH facilities.”
Bruce Bucknell, British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, representing UK in east and northeast India, said, “Through IUIH we are excited to bring to India the UK’s expertise in training, innovation and clinical delivery. This ambitious project will see NHS standards of care supporting the healthcare needs of the people of Assam.”
The IUIH Medicity in Assam shall also have medical college, nursing college, PG academy and a training facility for allied health professionals. It shall also have a separate zone for medical equipment and device manufacturing, and pharmaceutical production. Cutting edge medical research shall be carried out at the IUIH Medicities in areas as diverse as genomics & stem cells, translational research and clinical research leveraging on the patient data available.
“The objective is to make every IUIH Medicity a medical tourism hub and attract the patient traffic from across the globe. NHS standard healthcare at lower price points is our winning formula to tap the medical tourism business potential. This shall not just contribute to the exchequer but lead to overall development of the region too, in line with the government’s Smart Cities initiative,” added Dr Ajay Rajan Gupta.
IUIH has tied up with leading implant companies like Stryker, Medtronics, Zimmer Biomet, Johnson & Johnson; and leading medical equipment companies like Toshiba, GE healthcare, Philips, Canon etc. Many of them would start their manufacturing operations in IUIH Medicities in accordance with Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ program bringing the healthcare cost further down for patients in India.
“We are also relying heavily on technology and have tied-up with IBM for big data analytics. Our e-Health and m-Health platforms will facilitate exchange of patients’ medical records electronically using telemedicine, tele-radiology and tele-pathology for diagnostics etc. Our partnership with Google and other technology service providers will enable delivery of these advanced services. It’s all about covering the last mile and taking healthcare services down to patient’s doorstep,” informed Dr Ajay Rajan Gupta.
Besides Assam, the other 11 states to benefit from the IUIH programme include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.
