On Saturday Eldercare was on focus at the India MedTech Expo 2023 held at the Helipad Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar in the presence of government stakeholders from various ministries, international diplomats, and industry leaders from MedTech, Hospitals & Healthcare space
On Saturday Eldercare was on focus at the India MedTech Expo 2023 held at the Helipad Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar in the presence of government stakeholders from various ministries, international diplomats, and industry leaders from MedTech, Hospitals & Healthcare space.
The session on elder care was chaired by Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, Member, NITI Aayog and moderated by Pavan Choudary, Chairman, Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) trained the spotlight on MedTech’s crucial role in enabling care for seniors.
Pavan Choudary, Chairman of the Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) said, “Earlier elders had much utility. They would not only babysit but also produce food, and make tools, weapons, baskets, pots; they had knowledge of politics, medicine, religion, songs and dances. Their knowledge about rare events like epidemics, wars, because of the benefit of their years made them useful. But today, their utility has diminished as the repository of knowledge they carried is a click away and industrialization has catalysed the mobility of the young away from family professions and towards nuclearization of families. Their utility has diminished and so has their self-esteem.”
“The increasing healthcare and caregiving costs are making elders an expensive burden. Many caregiving children fall in the ‘sandwich generation’, with parents to care for on one side and their own children to care for on the other, added Choudary.”
Choudary shared that today the elderly face physical, mental, financial and social hardship and urged the panellists to put forward their ideas, products and services to address these hardships.
Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, during the panel discussion, stated, “The ageing demographic presents both a societal and governmental obligation to address the needs of the elderly population. A landmark study recently revealed that 43 per cent of the elderly population would require one or more assisted medical devices in the coming future. At present, the disability rate among individuals aged 60 and above surpasses 10 per cent, emphasizing the significance of comprehensive support mechanisms. Within this context, there exists a promising trajectory for the advancement of assisted medical devices tailored to senior living. He also stressed that the industry should through its efforts address the specific needs of elderly women in India as well.”
Rajit Mehta, MD & CEO of Antara Senior Living, said, “It was apt timing to discuss how we can get better prepared for taking care of our elders. It’s a multi-dimensional issue with ‘capacity to serve’ and lack of ubiquitous financing options being key constraints. Very heartening to hear from Dr Paul and Shri Saurabh Garg that they are aware of the key issues and quite keen to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to look at viable solutions.”
The panel sought the government’s help in resolving GST anomalies, non-coverage under ABPMJAY and other government schemes.
