UAE-India to strengthen ties in medical sector

India will play a crucial role in ensuring availability of the Covid-19 vaccine, said an Indian envoy in the UAE during a virtual healthcare conference.

"India's vaccine manufacturers will play a crucial role in ensuring the widespread availability of the Covid-19 vaccine," said Pavan Kapoor, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, at the first UAE-India Healthcare Conference 2020.

The conference, held on Monday, was organised in partnership the Indian missions in the UAE, the Federation of Indian Chambers Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Invest India.

"The UAE Government is constantly improving its image as a destination for medical tourism and also as a manufacturing and distribution hub for pharmaceutical products," added Kapoor.

Dr Amin Alamiri, assistant undersecretary of health policy and licensing at the Ministry of Healthy and Prevention (Mohap), said: "We have great cooperation with India and we look forward to supporting any Indian pharma or medical industry to invest with us."

Ways to exchange ideas

With contributions from policymakers and leaders in the healthcare sector, the conference was a platform for deliberations on collaboration and exploring ways and means for the two health systems to engage more deeply.

Speakers discussed ways in which the two nations will exchange ideas on exploring new avenues for partnership as India and UAE work towards delivering accessible, affordable and world class healthcare to people.

"The world requires a new kind of approach to tackle such unprecedented health and economic crisis, one that fosters cooperation and not isolation among all the stakeholders," said Dr Ahmed Albanna, Ambassador of the UAE to India.

Dr Sangita Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group and president of FICCI, said the pandemic situation has made the world enter an era of medical diplomacy. She suggested various means in which there can be an exchange of medical professionals and technical know-how to beat common medical challenges faced by both countries.

Consul-General of India to Dubai Dr Aman Puri added: "This conference becomes all the more topical as key stakeholders from the UAE and Indian healthcare landscape join together to explore new avenues for partnership."

The scope of traditional medicines such as ayurveda in the UAE was also discussed. Girish Krishnamurty, CEO and director of Tata Medical and Diagnostics, Dr Azad Moopen, chairman and MD of Aster DM Healthcare, Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and MD, VPS Healthcare Group, Sophiya Faizal, director, KEF Holdings, and Akbar Moideen Thumbay, vice-president, healthcare division at the Thumbay Group also gave presentations.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com 

Dhanusha Gokulan

Originally from India, Dhanusha Gokulan has been working as a journalist for 10 years. She has a keen interest in writing about issues that plague the common person and will never turn down a human interest story. She completed her Bachelor in Arts in Journalism, Economics and English Literature from Mangalore University in 2008. In her spare time, she dabbles with some singing/songwriting, loves travelling and Audible is her favourite mobile application. Tweet at her @wordjunkie88