Table of Contents
PMO
• Mr Modi said India and China have the responsibility to work for 40 per cent of the world population.
• He also offered to hold the next informal summit in India in 2019.
• The Prime Minister recalled that during the 2000 years of history, India and China together provided momentum and strength to the world economy and dominated it for around 1600 years.
International News
• The leaders of North and South Korea agreed today to pursue a permanent peace and the complete denuclearisation of the divided peninsula, as they embraced after a historic summit laden with symbolism.
• In a day of bonhomie including a highly symbolic handshake over the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two countries, North Korean leader Kim Jongun and his South Korean
counterpart Moon Jae-in issued a declaration on the common goal of realising a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
• The two leaders also agreed to end hostil e activities between the two nations, change the demilitarised zone that divides the country into a “peace zone” by ceasing propaganda broadcasts.
• The two sides also agreed on arms reduction in the region.
• They also agreed to joint participation in sporting events.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• Union Minister of State for Law & Justice and Corporate Affairs, Government of India, Shri
PP Chaudhary began the second leg of his two-nation tour as a part of the outreach initiative Bruhad Sampark Yojana undertaken by the Ministry of External Affairs.
• The visit commenced with interaction with the families of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) which mainly comprised of the medical professionals contributing to the health administration as well as medical academic institutions of Barbados. • He also stated that such contribution
immensely strengthens the ties between India and Barbados.
• 1536 – Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos visits the island.
• 1627 – Captain Henry Powell lands a party of English settlers who establish a colony, which they then develop as a sugar plantation economy using slaves brought in from Africa.
• 1834 – Slavery abolished.
• 1937 – Outbreak of riots in response to poor economic conditions; British Royal Commission sent in to investigate conditions; Barbados Labour Party (BLP) founded by Grantley Adams.
• 1958-62 – Barbados a member of the Britishsponsored Federation of the West Indies, of which Grantley Adams became the first prime minister.
• 1961 – Barbados granted full internal selfgovernment with DLP leader Errol Barrow as premier.
• 1966 – Barbados becomes independent with Errol Barrow as prime minister
Medical tourism
• Association of American Medical Colleges • By 2030: shortage of up to 120,000 physicians
• Demographic reasons: over-65 age group is expected to increase by 50%
• American healthcare industry: $3.5 trillion
• 1.5 times larger than India’s GDP.
• 2018: spending is further expected to grow at 5.3%
• Such high growth rates are unsustainable in the long run.
• Because of doctor shortages, an explosion in the number of sick people and illegal immigrants demanding care, waits to see a doctor are long, almost as bad as in Canada or in the UK.
• Most consumers are simply frustrated with America’s healthcare system.
• India’s health services sector can grab a portion of the American market
• Medical Tourism
• Even a 5 per cent slice can result in a $175 billion export industry, much larger than our IT services sector today.
• Obamacare: insurance companies to offer mandatory benefits such as maternity care and mental health services to everyone and removing price differentials for those with pre-existing medical conditions.
• Government sent the private health insurance market into a tailspin.
• Double digit premium increases are now an annual occurrence.
• Americans would warmly respond to visiting India to get treated for non-life threatening ailments — such as knee and hip replacement surgery — and life-saving preventive care, such as stents and balloon angioplasty.
• India’s hospital infrastructure and service quality levels are poor — and these are legitimate concerns.
• Hospital sector should invest, train and scale both in quantity and quality.
• The industry should establish primary care clinics in America to refer patients to India, for free.
• It should offer a one-stop service, soup to nuts — travel, accommodation, cashless direct billing, 24×7 customer service and post-hospital care — all coordinated through a single portal or call centre.
• Arriving patients should be met at the airport by a full-time adviser who stays with the patient until departure, much like a conducted tour manager
• Post-surgical rehabilitation could include camps at yoga, meditation and balanceddiet clinics, already respected as Indian exports in many parts of the US.
• India is already a powerhouse in the production and distribution of the world’s generic drugs such as for controlling hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
• Expanding the medical tourism industry is a natural byproduct of our pharma industry’s success.
• But doing so should become a concerted public-private partnership
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