building and skills training.
Volume 4 | Issue 1 | January-March 2019
9
Q. What are the common areas for
healthcare research and ongoing
Q. India and Sweden will complete
Q. What can Indian healthcare
businesses gain from Swedish
healthcare
businesses?
Any
suggestions
on
possible
partnerships?
It is not so much what the Indian
healthcare system can gain, but
rather, how can we join forces to
overcome
common
challenges.
Swedish businesses have been
in India for many years. Within
healthcare, we have AstraZeneca,
who recently celebrated 40 years in
India, and Getinge who has been
investing in the Indian ecosystem for
many years. Their focus, like many
others, has been in building the
capacity of their employees and the
users of their products to increase
efficiency. The businesses also bring
with them lessons from Sweden so
that we can help India leapfrog out-
dated technology. Sweden also ranks
high in most innovation indexes –
it can be argued that our relatively
small size makes collaborations
outside traditional silos necessary
in order to succeed. Public actors,
private companies, and institutions
often work together in finding
innovative solutions to serious
healthcare challenges. We would like
to work with India to build spaces
for similar ecosystems across India.
Q. An MoU was signed during Prime
Minister Modi’s visit to Sweden
on 17th April 2018 at Stockholm
on
“India-Sweden
Innovation
Partnership for a Sustainable
Future”. Can you share the progress
with respect to healthcare?
We are in the process of putting out
calls and setting up incubators which
will encourage close collaboration
between the innovators in Sweden
and India. Solutions are only
sustainable if both sides contribute
and share a strong sense of ownership.
Progress has already been made
in laying the groundwork for such
partnerships within the sectors of
clean energy and smart cities, and we
hope to launch initiatives targeted to
healthcare during the coming year.
The Embassy will be sure to keep
you posted.
10 years of Partnership in Health
Sector in 2019, any plans in store
for 2019?
India and Sweden plan to
commemorate
the
ten
years
completion of the MoU in 2019. We
hope to enhance our collaborations
in new areas with new stakeholders
like the new AIIMS that have come
up in some states. We also hope to
have high-level visits from both
sides to enhance policy dialogues
and bilateral relations. Some of
the collaborative partners are also
developing new plans to strengthen
their cooperation.