Govt of Karnataka in association with C-CAMP hosts the Second Roundtable on Health: A new paradigm for Karnataka’s public healthcare partnerships
Through this strategic initiative, CSR and Philanthropy partners can enable joint projects led by Govt of Karnataka and C-CAMP aimed at implementing much-needed innovative health technologies in the State of Karnataka through pilot and scale-up programmes.
The Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of Karnataka (GoK) and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) have come together again to co-host the second Roundtable on Health, nine months post the first event of its kind held on 8th November 2024. This roundtable meeting with top leadership from CSR and Philanthropic organisations in the presence of the Karnataka Govt. reconvened for updates on the impact of the previous roundtable's deliberations, ongoing projects and their individual impact. The meeting also aligned on 2024's focus areas in healthcare and charted out a roadmap for the next 3-5 years for augmenting public health systems with innovative, indigenous health solutions in Karnataka with focus on affordability, accessibility, and quality at scale.
CSR funds can be strategically utilised to address various healthcare challenges in the state and improve the overall healthcare infrastructure and service delivery. In the last one year, C-CAMP has worked with the Govt of Karnataka’s Health and Family Welfare Department and National Health Mission to deploy healthcare solutions for maternal and child care and comprehensive eye care across the state.
The Roundtable meetings on health are the result of the formation of a strategic alliance between the Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, GoK and C-CAMP that was signed in August 2023 with the aim to strengthen the State's public healthcare delivery through implementation of indigenous health solutions and medical innovations. Today’s meeting was chaired by the Hon'ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare, GoK, Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao. Apart from the Minister, the meeting was joined by key leadership from the Karnataka Health Department - Principal Secretary to Govt., Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Harsh Gupta, IAS; Commissioner, Health and Family Welfare Services, Shri Randeep D, IAS; and Mission Director National Health Mission, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr. Naveen Bhat, IAS.
The Karnataka Health Department has made significant impact in the last year. Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao, mentioned “Reflecting on our journey since the first roundtable, we’re more determined than ever to make Karnataka a model for healthcare excellence. The progress we’ve seen since our last roundtable is proof of the power of collaborative efforts. As we reconvene today, we celebrate the advancements in our public health systems, but our work is far from done. By leveraging CSR and philanthropic support, we aim to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, ensuring that every citizen benefits from high-quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare. We look forward to new ideas and ongoing efforts that will pave the way for a healthier future for Karnataka.”
Joined by senior leaderships from Infosys foundation, USAID, GE Healthcare, Bosch Global Software Technologies, AstraZeneca, Biocon Foundation, HCL Foundation, Intel Corporation, UNICEF, Micro Labs, Anthem Biosciences, Sattva Consulting, Volvo Group India, Cognizant Foundation, Aastrika Foundation, Ashraya Hastha Trust, JSW Foundation, Live Love Laugh Foundation, Swasth Alliance - ACT for Health, ACT for Health, Colgate Palmolive, Siemens Healthineers. C-CAMP as India’s leading innovation ecosystem for health-tech solutions, steered the discussion.
Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP Director-CEO mentioned, “Healthcare worldwide is advancing by leaps and bounds but what remains is to democratise access to these advances for the common public. Through industry and private partnership funded projects, like Infosys Foundation and ACT for Health, and backed by a strong drive from the Govt. of Karnataka, we are aiming to introduce deep-science and technology-driven, quality health technologies solutions to significantly impact public healthcare. Particularly in certain critical areas that need immediate intervention such as maternal and child health, rapid diagnostics, screening technologies, and digitally enabled healthcare to achieve the required scale. We believe philanthropic and CSR partnership can provide the risk capital and support to generate evidence of the role of innovation in augmenting public health systems.”
In collaboration with Infosys Foundation in February 2024, a 4-year project for strengthening maternal and newborn health infrastructure was initiated – Project Early Life. Cutting-edge fetal monitoring technology has been deployed to enhance health monitoring of expectant mothers across district hospitals and community health centres, starting with Dharwad and Ballari districts of Karnataka. Also deployed were infrastructure-independent, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure systems, which provide respiratory support for newborns in respiratory distress without invasive ventilation. Also, as part of another philanthropic effort, a comprehensive eye care programme with ACT for Health has been implemented across 11 districts of the state involving AI-based screening for all retinopathies and point of care digital screening devices, under Karnataka State vision care program, Asha Kirana of National Health Mission’s National Programme for Control of Blindness & Visual Impairment, NPCBVI. These healthcare solutions have directly impacted 2.4 Lakh lives thus far. Further initiatives include Sarige Asha Kirana, a project to support eye care for all public transport personnel through eye checkups with provision of free spectacles for vision correction. It can potentially impact the public safety of nearly 1.1 Crore daily commuters of Karnataka’s public transport.
