Healthcare

Between April 2000-December 2021, FDI inflows for drugs and pharmaceuticals sector stood at US$ 19.19 billion, according to the data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). FDI inflows in sectors such as hospitals and diagnostic centres and medical and surgical appliances stood at US$ 7.73 billion and US$ 2.35 billion, respectively. Some of the recent developments in the Indian healthcare industry are as follows:

• India currently holds the fourth position in attracting VC funding to the health-tech sector, with investments of US$ 4.4 billion between 2016 and 2021, with US$ 1.9 invested in 2021 alone.
• In March 2022, Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) for its Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax for the 5-12 year age group.
• In January 2022, Phase 3 trials commenced of India's first intranasal vaccine against COVID-19, that is being developed by Bharat Biotech in conjunction with Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, the US.
• Startup HealthifyMe, with a total user base of 30 million people, is adding half a million new users every month and crossed US$ 40 million ARR in January 2022.
• The number of policies issued to women in FY21 stood at 93 lakh, with one out of every three life insurance policies in FY21 sold to a woman.
• In December 2021, Eka Care became the first CoWIN-approved organization in India, through which users could book their vaccination slot, download their certificate and even create their Health IDs.
• As of November 18, 2021, 80,136 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are operational in India.
• As of November 18, 2021, 638 e-Hospitals are established across India as part of the central government's ‘Digital India’ initiative.
• In November 2021, Flipkart Group announced its foray into the healthcare sector through the launch of Flipkart Health+. As part of this development, Flipkart has signed definitive agreements to acquire a majority share in Sastasundar Marketplace Limited, which owns and operates SastaSundar.com, an online pharmacy and digital healthcare platform.
• In November 2021, Aster DM Healthcare announced that it is planning Rs. 900 crore (US$ 120.97 million) capital expenditure over the next three years to expand its presence in India, as it looks at increasing the share of revenue from the country to 40% of the total revenue by 2025.
• In September 2021, Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik Light received permission for Phase 3 trials in India.
• In September 2021, Biocon Biologics Limited, a subsidiary of Biocon, announced a strategic alliance with Serum Institute Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Serum Institute of India (SII). The alliance is expected to strengthen India's position as a global vaccine and biologics manufacturing powerhouse.
• In July 2021, India made its Covid-19 vaccination platform, CoWIN, open source for all countries. Almost 76 countries have displayed interest in leveraging the CoWIN platform to manage their national COVID-19 vaccination drives.
• In July 2021, the Indian government granted Sanofi and GSK approvals to conduct late-stage clinical trials of their protein-based vaccines.
• In June 2021, Tata Digital Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Limited, announced that it will acquire a majority stake in digital health company 1mg.
• In June 2021, PharmEasy acquired a majority stake in Thyrocare Technologies, a diagnostics chain, to diversify and bolster its testing business.
• In June 2021, AstraZeneca India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Docon Technologies, a Bengaluru-based health start-up, to digitise 1,000 clinics across India by implementing customised electronic medical record (EMR) systems in clinics to offer doctors access to a patient’s complete medical history.
• In March 2021, Union Health Minister Mr. Harsh Vardhan informed the Rajya Sabha that 157 medical colleges are under various stages of implementation across India. Of this, 58 colleges are in the first phase of implementation, 24 in the second phase and 75 are in the third phase.
• In March 2021, Virchow Biotech, a Hyderabad-based firm, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced a collaboration to manufacture up to 200 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in India.

Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government of India to promote Indian healthcare industry are as follows:

• In the Union Budget 2022-23:
• Rs. 86,200.65 crore (US$ 11.28 billion) was allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
• Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) was allocated Rs. 10,000 crore (US$ 1.31 billion)
• Human Resources for Health and Medical Education was allotted Rs. 7,500 crore (US$ 982.91 million).
• National Health Mission was allotted Rs. 37,000 crore (US$ 4.84 billion).
• Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) was allotted Rs. 6,412 crore (US$ 840.32 million).
• The Government of India approved continuation of ‘National Health Mission’ with a budget of Rs. 37,000 crore (US$ 4.85 billion).
• Rs. 5,156 crore (US$ 675.72 million) was allocated to the newly announced PM-ABHIM to strengthen India’s health infrastructure and improve the country’s primary, secondary and tertiary care services.
• As of April 5, 2022, 117,771 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are operational in India.
• As of April 5, 2022, 748 e-Hospitals were established across India as part of the central government's ‘Digital India’ initiative.
• In November 2021, the Government of India, the Government of Meghalaya and the World Bank signed a US$ 40-million health project for the state of Meghalaya. Project will improve the quality of health services and strengthen the state’s capacity to handle future health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
• By September 21, 2021, the Health Ministry’s eSanjeevani telemedicine service crossed 12 million teleconsultations since its launch, enabling patient-to-doctor consultations, from the confines of their homes, and doctor-to-doctor consultations.
• India could restart deliveries of Covid-19 shots to global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX in November-December 2021 for the first time since April 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO), which co-leads COVAX, has been pushing India to resume supplies for the programme, particularly after it sent ~4 million doses to its neighbours and allies in October 2021.
• In September 2021, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, while speaking at the global COVID-19 summit, said that India had shared its vaccine production with 95 countries and the UN peacekeepers. He also stated that India will supply COVID-19 vaccines to other countries after increased production.
• In September 2021, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. The mission will connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other. Under this, every citizen will now get a digital health ID and their health record will be digitally protected.
• In September 2021, Telangana government in a joint initiative with World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog and HealthNet Global (Apollo Hospitals) launched ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project. The project will pave the way for drone delivery of life saving medicines and jabs in far-flung regions of the country.
• According to a spokesperson, the Indian government is planning to introduce a credit incentive programme worth Rs. 500 billion (US$ 6.8 billion) to boost the country’s healthcare infrastructure. The programme will allow firms to leverage the fund to expand hospital capacity or medical supplies with the government acting as a guarantor and strengthen COVID-19-related health infrastructure in smaller towns.
• In July 2021, the Ministry of Tourism established the ‘National Medical & Wellness Tourism Board’ to promote the Medical and Wellness Tourism in India.
• In July 2021, the Union Cabinet approved continuation of the National Ayush Mission, responsible for the development of traditional medicines in India, as a centrally sponsored scheme until 2026.
• In July 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Denmark on cooperation in health and medicine. The agreement will focus on joint initiatives and technology development in the health sector with the aim of improving public health status of the populations of both countries.
• In June 2021, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in partnership with UNICEF, held a capacity building workshop for media professionals and health correspondents in Northeastern states on the current COVID-19 situation in India, the need to bust myths regarding COVID-19 vaccines & vaccination and reinforce the importance of COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).
• In June 2021, Bolo Indya, a domestic social live streaming platform, partnered with the Ministry of AYUSH to improve awareness for traditional Indian methods of medicines and care such as siddha, yoga, unani and ayurveda to boost healthy living among citizens. Through this partnership, >10 million citizens will be covered in the next 12 months.
• In June 2021, West Bengal proposed for six new medical colleges in the state, nine new medical colleges became operational in Uttar Pradesh, Telangana approved six medical colleges in the state and Punjab announced establishment of four new medical colleges in the state.
• In June 2021, the Uttar Pradesh government announced the introduction of automatic medicine dispensing machines to expand the primary healthcare industry and clinical centres in the country. The state health department has been nominated to design an action plan and install ‘Health ATMs’ walk-in medical kiosks, with combined medical devices for basic laboratory testing, emergency offerings, cardiology, neurology, pulmonary and gynaecology testing services that will be operated by a medical assistant in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
• In June 2021, the government invited bids for using drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to remote and difficult-to-reach areas to ensure last-mile coverage in select locations of the country.
• As of May 2021, 11.9 lakh Health IDs have been generated and 3,106 doctors and 1,490 facilities have registered on the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) platform.
• In May 2021, Defense Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh launched ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT)’ OPD portal to provide telemedicine services to armed forces personnel and veterans.
• On May 17, 2021, the Defence Ministry launched the first batch of anti-COVID drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) that was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), along with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.
• In May 2021, the government announced its plan to ramp up supply and availability of Amphotericin-B, the anti-fungal drug, for treatment of the ‘Black Fungus’ disease. It has also given the license to five manufactures to produce the drug within the country.
• In March 2021, various states and UTs started implementation of the ‘Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0’—a campaign aimed to reach those children and pregnant women who were missed out or have been left out of the routine immunisation programme due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is aimed to accelerate the full immunisation of children and pregnant women through a mission mode intervention.
• In March 2021, the Parliament passed the National Commission for Allied, Healthcare Professions Bill 2021, which aims to create a body that will regulate and maintain educational and service standards for healthcare professionals.
• The government announced Rs. 64,180 crore (US$ 8.80 billion) outlay for the healthcare sector over six years in the Union Budget 2021-22 to strengthen the existing ‘National Health Mission’ by developing capacities of primary, secondary and tertiary care, healthcare systems and institutions for detection and cure of new & emerging diseases.