WFEB discusses 'future of healthcare post COVID', AYUSH Secy backs integrative approach

On the occasion of World Health Day on April 7, the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB) hosted a mega global virtual conference with the theme ‘Future of Healthcare Post Covid: Moving Towards an Integrative Approach’. While two million people from over 90 countries poised to attend the virtual event, the speakers included Dr Christian Garbe, Managing Director, FIZ Biotech, Dr Ton Nicolai, Secretary-General, Member of the Executive Committee, EUROCAM, Dr Geetha Krishnan Gopalakrishna Pillai, Technical Officer, Traditional Complementary and Integrative -Medicine Unit, WHO, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health. The entire event is being live-streamed and here are the highlights of the panel discussion. 

‘We may not see third wave of COVID’ 

The panel discussion began with Dr Devi Shetty predicting that with the Indian government’s efforts to vaccinate people against coronavirus, the vaccination of half of the population in the country will be completed “very soon”. Dr Shetty said, “We may not even see the third wave” if the government continues to inoculate the population at this speed. Further, Dr Shetty even said that he hopes that when the pandemic comes to end the world will be better prepared for future pandemics and better healthcare. 

Dr Shetty said, “I hope to live in a better world which is well prepared for the future pandemics and better healthcare”. 

Further, he went on to talk about the integrative healthcare approach. While giving an example of ‘Namaste’, Dr Shetty said that “India is really good at integrative healthcare”. He spoke about traditional medications and said that Ayurveda, Yoga and Allopathy in India are not only good for heart diseases but for diabetes as well. 

“We believe that going forward the best outcome in healthcare can be provided in wellness and in wellness, I believe that alternative medicine approaches, like Yoga and Ayurveda and all other medicines we have been practising in India, has a major role”. 

‘New boom’ in online healthcare 

Following Dr Shetty, Robert Goldman noted that amid the coronavirus pandemic people are now taking self-control of their health. Goldman said that people have started utilizing the internet and has even adapted to virtual fitness training. He even noted that online healthcare has become a “new boom” and there has also been an explosion in the home gym industry. 

Goldman said, “We are now seeing a dramatic change in how we approach our personal healthcare and how we approach our medical community and how we are looking at things that normally would not be looked at patient level but also physician-level”. 

He added, “Due to the restrictions… we are now seeing patients taking an active role in their own health care, educating themselves and being aggressive in trying to make changes for themselves and for their families. People have adapted and understand that their healthcare is under their own control”. 

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, noted that the integrated healthcare approach is “very good”. He cleared that the approach is for “harmony and benefit of the patient and to try and find packages with a holistic approach”. He said that the positive outcome of the COVID-19 is that it gave the world an opportunity to think alternatively. 

‘Ayurgenomics’ explained 

Further, Dr Christine Garbe, Managing Director, FIZ Biotech, spoke about ‘Ayurgenomics’. He explained how Ayurveda and German Biotechnology work together. He explained what paradigm shift means in healthcare and noted that in recent years there has been a major development in technology. Dr Garbe then went on to explain how Ayurveda, which is focused on the holistic approach of a human being, and the molecular mechanism can be combined with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Dr Geetha Krishnan Gopalakrishna Pillai, Technical Officer, Traditional Complementary and Integrative -Medicine Unit, WHO, then noted that post-COVID pandemic, government funding across the globe will increase and their attitude towards health workforce will change. He even said that technology will become “inseparable” from healthcare delivery and direct interaction with physicians will decline. 

Dr Geetha then spoke about integrative healthcare and noted that traditional medicine has a lot to offer. He said, “If we do this well, integrative medicine can lead to better use of knowledge and human capital for managing human suffering”. He added, “integrative medicine can also reduce social inequity and thereby it can also lead to healthcare being equitable to all humans of the earth”. 

Current challenges and solution 

The session was then concluded by Dr Ton Nicolai, who discussed the challenges and opportunities amid the pandemic. While talking about challenges, Dr Nicolai noted that the world is facing disruption of the microbiome and antimicrobial resistance. Dr Nicolai also said, “vaccines are a wonderful invention but seen to be a temporary solution”. She noted that Zoonotic diseases are also predicted to increase post-COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, Dr Nicolai also went on to explain how to overcome these challenges. She noted the positive developments - increased awareness and worldwide implementation of world health assembly resolutions. She also said that necessary actions such as raising awareness, availability, affordability and accessibility of traditional, complementary and integrative medicines are important.