The influential Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) will host their second Indo-US Healthcare Summit in New Delhi in January in collaboration with the Indian government to discuss among other things how to reach out to the rural poor.
"The health summit would focus on prevention, diagnosis, treatment options and share ways to truly improve healthcare transcending global boundaries," Dr Sanku Rao, AAPI president, said announcing the three-day Jan 2-4, 2009 conference.
Rao said the public-private initiative between AAPI, a prestigious organisation with over 40,000 physicans as members, and the Indian government was all about dedication and commitment of Indian American physicians to improving healthcare in India.
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will inaugurate the meet and deliver a keynote address. Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi will attend the summit and has extended full support of his ministry to the event.
Besides the ministries of health and overseas Indian affairs, Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Medical Council of India (MCI) have also joined hands with AAPI in organising the second annual summit.
At the meeting, a wide variety of speakers including senior government officials, think tanks, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals and eminent physicians would debate on how to work together to solve the healthcare challenges facing India.
A large contingent of leaders from AAPI, BAPIO (British Association of Physicians of Indian Oorigin) and Canadian Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage (CAPIH) are expected to attend the summit, Rao said.
Together with the involvement of IMA and MCI, AAPI has plans to reach out to the rural poor in India. AAPI has identified seven areas - heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, deafness of new-born, mental health, infectious diseases, mother and child health care and emergency care for cooperation between India and the US. Some of these diseases have been successfully tackled by US physicians, thanks to advances in medicine and technology.
Last year, the first summit, that too was held in New Delhi, came in for praise from the president and prime minister of India as it ushered in a new era of cooperation between physicians of both the US and India.
Both the prime minister and health minister had urged AAPI to give priority to improving maternal and child healthcare, where the gap between the rich and the poor is huge. AAPI has drawn up a three-pronged strategy to tackle the issue: maternal health, new born and child health and adolescent health.
Now that infectious diseases has been approved as a specialty course and for fellowship and training in India following AAPI's efforts, Rao said AAPI would promote geriatrics as the next specialty and conduct specialised courses in the discipline in medical colleges.
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