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.

Huge interrest in Swedish life science and ehealth solutions when Mexican delegation met Swecare

It was with great pleasure we welcomed the delegation headed by the secretary of economic development of Hidalgo, José Luis Romo Cruz. Previously Head of the Planning Unit of the Mexican Social Security Institute at the national level, IMSS and General Director of Planning of the National Commission of Social Protection in Health (Popular Insurance).

During the meeting Dr. Jokilaakso presented the Swedish healthcare system that shares lots of similarities with its Mexican counterpart.

Further the delegation discussed the life science sector and what Swedish companies can contribute with since the coverage of the health insurance is rapidly expanding in Mexico. Topics discussed where how e-prescription, EHR and other crucial infrastructure can be provided with high interoperability and cybersecurity and what the IOT revolution means for a country like Mexico that is a major manufacturer of medical devices.

Also, investment opportunities in Hidalgo for medtech and pharma companies was lifted as an interesting option for Swedish companies interested in selling in the Latin American and US market.


Bienvenido a Hidalgo en México con nosotros

Kulturfestivalen 2017

Indian comedian Papa CJ in front of the crowds (photo credit: Michelle Rickardsson)

I can think of few better ways of getting back into the work rhythm following Summer break than when it is interspersed with events being organized for and around the Stockholm Cultural Festival. The theme this year, as many of you may know by now, is India – and more specifically India’s 70 years of Independence. As member of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, Swecare had the privilege of attending the inauguration of this week’s festivities at Gustav Adolfs Torg on Tuesday. Not only was it wonderful to see thousands of people dancing to Bollywood tunes, these types of events also offer Swecare the opportunity to network, influence, and better understand the scope of collaborations possible within the healthcare industry. We are currently actively engaged in taking the Sweden-India partnerships from being pharma-focused to care-centric. While Sweden is still home to groundbreaking medical research in the pharmaceutical sector, we also have transformative solutions in MedTech, eHealth, healthcare services. Much of the talk at the India@100 Business Day event this Thursday centered around leveraging the scaling potential and talent pool in India with the depth of knowledge and expertise residing in Sweden. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the healthcare sector – where the challenges are literally a matter of life and death. It is such a privilege to be a driver in creating these partnerships and an honor to be representing such impressive companies and institutions.

Thank you and let’s get back to work.