Sweden is looking at closer collaboration with India in the healthcare sector as both countries celebrate five years of cooperation in the field.
"It has been a very successful collaboration between Sweden and India and collaboration between the public agencies, universities and private companies," Sweden's Minister for Health Care, Public Health and Sport, Gabriel Wikstrom told PTI.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries was signed in 2009 covering collaborations in a number of areas.
This includes Public Health and Alcohol Policy, Infectious Disease Control and Antimicrobial Resistance, Medical and Pharmaceutical Products and elderly care, among others.
The partnership has been successful in controlling infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance which are huge challenges for the future, he added.
Wikstrom was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar organised to celebrate five years of bilateral cooperation in the healthcare sector and to further facilitate and encourage collaborations between key actors from both sides.
Speaking about the road map for the future, Wikstrom said: "One of the major area of cooperation could be ehealth in rural areas so as to make it easier for the people living in the rural areas to get healthcare cover."
All this will be done in a spirit of mutual cooperation, he added.
When asked about the healthcare model followed in Sweden, Wikstrom said: "Healthcare in Sweden is publicly funded. It is an important factor for making life easier for people in Sweden.It is also an important factor behind the growth of country's economy."
On the initiatives taken by India, he added: "India has taken the right path when they say that new technology is being used to face the challenges. It is only through ehealth and telemedicine that people living in the far flung rural areas can be adequately provided with healthcare cover."
Closer collaboration between the public agencies, institutions and private companies of Sweden and India is the way forward for both the countries, Wikstrom said.
