Two day Healthcare Summit to Build Bridges between Canada and India Staff Reporter, Toronto

 

 

A two-day Healthcare Summit organized by the Canada India Foundation (CIF) is being organized to build bridges between Canada and India.  This is the fifth theme based Summit organized by CIF as part of the organization’s ongoing effort to keep this dialog alive, and increase relations between the two countries.

 

It is important to keep the dialogue going says Dr V I Lakshmanan, Chairman CIF  and co-chair, Healthcare Summit.  At the end of the day it is people to people contact that makes things happen, he states.  

 

“Through the Summit, we aim to connect senior people and decision makers in the field of Healthcare from both countries. We will also be arranging one on one meetings with key delegates such as Dr. Rahul Reddy, Senior Vice President, Apollo Hospitals and Dr P Namperumalsamy, Chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai.”

 

Founded eight years ago, CIF’s mandate is to work on public policy and advocacy and enhance relationship between Canada and India.

 

The two-day summit to be held on May 19 and 20 at the OMNI King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto will have over 70 speakers who will address diverse health issues pertaining to South Asians, wellness and alternative care, rehabilitation, generic drugs and research collaboration.

 

“Generic drugs is a major topic at the Summit this year. We wanted to shed some focus on it as it a topic relevant to both Governments.

 

“Canada has universal care but the population is only 35 million. On the other hand, there is India with a population of 1.2 billion and a thriving middle class.  Digital health is becoming a major issue and e-health is an opportunity for Indian companies to come and work with Canadian companies and the Canadian government.

 

According to Dr. Lakshmanan, the Summit will help to achieve quality and efficiency.

 

“Today the world is a global village, and it is all about what the civil society can do to bring people together, understand the challenges and see if there is synergy. As CIF, we will be putting together a report with a summary of all the discussions and deliberations that took place during the Summit and will be presenting the report to Governments of both countries.

 

“In terms of what the delegates themselves have – this is an opportunity for them to talk and network with senior people in the industry in both India and Canada and discuss opportunities in a wide range of areas that are primarily healthcare related.”