What's next in India

While we celebrate the conclusion of the Sweden-India Year of Health, we have already initiated the next stage of our close collaboration. The new decade will bring increased activity within both midwifery and elderly care, covering both ends of the spectrum where Swedish solutions are particularly sought after.

The importance of digital health will only increase, especially with regards to the management of chronic conditions, but here we hope to develop applications and medtech products with Indian innovators which can be applied in both markets in order to ease the enormous health care burden we face. The combination of longitudinal data from Sweden with volumes available in India could lead to significantly more efficient solutions. New agreements can also be expected within infectious diseases, in particular with regards to Anti-Microbial Resistance.

All this and much more was discussed during the State Visit to India last week. Swecare organised the Elderly Care tract with special focus on dementia, ripples of our dialogue with key opinion leaders can already be felt in the Indian health care community. Minister Harsh Vardhan and State Secretary Maja Fjaestad reasserted their commitment to the MoU which exists between our two countries. The Minister has already expressed his interest in visiting Sweden early next year.

MAMTA Founder and long-time Swecare partner Dr Mehra receiving the Royal Order of Seraphim & the Royal Order of Polar Star

Senaste nytt inom "Sweden-India Year of Health" - vad har hänt och vad är på gång!

Samarbetet med Indien fördjupas och Sweden-India Year of Health löper på. En mängd delegationer passerar Sverige och flera har även besökt Indien på senare tid.

En stor Tech Delegation var här i samband med Stockholm Tech Week där även Swecare modererade en panel om IoT, AI, och Robotik i hälsosektorn. Många nya kontakter knöts mellan våra start-ups (watch this space!).

Socialdepartementet och Swecare var i Indien för någon vecka sedan och tog då tillfället i akt och träffade våra kollegor på hälsoministeriet. De är fortsatt entusiastiska till samarbetet och vårt jubileumsår. 

Besöket från Jodhpur beskrevs i positiva ordalag och chefen för avdelningen som ansvarar för universitetssjukhusen sa att ministeriet anser att AIIMS Jodhpur är det bästa och mest välfungerande av de nya AIIMS utanför Delhi. Vi vill gärna se en större samverkan mellan svenska myndigheter och företag eftersom det här är en fantastik möjlighet att visa på våra styrkor inom hälsosektorn.

Vi fick träffade även några stora (svenska) och små (indiska) bolag, tjänstemän på lokala hälsoministerier i Maharashtra och Karnataka, och Indiska key opinion leaders inom vården. Vi pratade om innovationshub (Delhi) och test beds (Bengaluru) men vi behöver utveckla idéerna i samband med våra lokala partners, Business Sweden, och Svenska Ambassaden i New Delhi.

I samband med besöket tog vi upp frågan om nästa Joint Working Group under samförståndsavtalet och firandet av jubileumsåret och besök av den indiske hälsoministern som vi föreslagit skulle kunna sammanfalla i Stockholm under senhösten. Två datumförslag i november har lämnats till ministern då vår minister Lena Hallengren skulle kunna ta emot i Stockholm.

Skulle inte detta ministerbesök bli av är förhoppningen att vi kan förlägga firandet till Indien istället i samband med ett högnivåbesök i Delhi första veckan i december. Även i detta fall borde ett seminarium arrangeras men då förstås i nära samarbete med det indiska departementet.

Håll ögonen öppna, fortsättning följer!


Läs mer om vårt senaste besök i Indisk media:

• The New Strike - September 19, 2019
• HealthcareRadius India - September 18, 2019
• The Prevalent India - September

Sweden India Year of Health 2019

Photo credit: AIIMS Jodhpur

As a kick-off to the Sweden India Year of Health 2019, Swecare was privileged to organize H.E. Lena Hallengren's first trip in her new role as Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs. It is a testament to the incredible commitment by both the Indian and Swedish Health Ministries to our ten-year collaboration that we managed to pack in such a high-level, well-rounded delegation in the short timespan between the conclusion of the lengthy Swedish election cycle and the start of the Indian one.

The program for the 35-strong delegation began with an internal round table for all life science companies on Friday, 22 May, morning. Given that the increased number of Swedish new companies entering the Indian market, this was an opportunity for established ones to share their experiences and for the agencies to learn about market-entry challenges. The session began with a presentation by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) Directors Dr. Mavalankar and Dr. Bhalla on the Indian health care sector, the impact of recent reforms, and their work.

Minister Hallengren presided over the India-Sweden Business Leaders' Round Table (ISBLRT) in a parallel session in the morning.

Photo credit: Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)

The two groups then got together to hold a Health Dialogue: Conference of the Sustainable Development Goals – Impact Driven Partnerships Beyond Traditional Silos in the afternoon. The session was opened by Health Secretary Preeti Sudan along with Professor Bhargava, Director-General at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The lively discussions covered topics ranging from procurement ("the Taj Mahal would never have been built with today's tender practices" - Dr. Advani) to innovation ("we cannot innovate for innovation's sake" - Vlachos). EMPE Diagnostics and AstraZeneca launched new initiatives in India with the blessing from both Ministries of Health.

Photo credit: Business Sweden India

Photo credit: Swecare

All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jodhpur were our gracious hosts over a weekend which included open and earnest discussions over collaboration opportunities, a beautiful dinner at the foot of Jodhpur's fort, and a visit to health centers for some of the group.

Topics discussed:

• Public health & infection control
• Innovation
• Skills, Competency development & Research
• HMIS, Data, Analytics & e-Health

We have follow-up meetings already planned and will keep you updated as we narrow our scope in order to focus on where Sweden can generate the most impact.

The trip ended with a bilateral meeting between Ministers Hallengren and Nadda on Monday morning. We hope to have an incoming visit from the Indian Minister later this year.

Photo credit: Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi

Thank you to all our partners in this endeavour: Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi, Business Sweden India, Swedish Chamber of Commerce in India.

Special mention: Mumbai Consulate, Sweden India Business Council, Tasting India.

Our Indian counterparts: Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, AIIMS Jodhpur, CDSCO, ICMR, Indian Embassy in Sweden, Public Health Foundation of India.