The Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS, New Delhi) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur (AIIMS, Jodhpur) announced the launch of India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre in India at the India- Sweden Business Summit Inauguration held recently.

The announcement was made in the presence of His Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and in the presence of the Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance, Government of India and Ibrahim Baylan, Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, Government of Sweden. The knowledge partner was represented by Mr. Leif Johansson, Chairman of the Board, AstraZeneca who reinforced the importance of innovation to achieve the ambition of providing affordable and accessible healthcare to all in the country.

The signing of the Memorandum of Intent (MoI) took place at the event that marked the 10 years of India Sweden health cooperation in the presence of Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Dr. Maja Fjaestad, State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Government of Sweden. AIIMS Delhi was represented by Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director and AIIMS Jodhpur by Dr. Sanjeev Misra, Director and Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office by Anders Wickberg, Swedish Trade Commissioner to India.

Chairman Leif Johansson, further commented, “AstraZeneca is honoured to partner with AIIMS and the Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office to further innovation in healthcare. The centre will mainstream digital, scalable and affordable healthcare solutions for early diagnosis and digital intervention in the management of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cancer, a shared challenge for India and Sweden.”

Trade Commissioner Anders Wickberg, said, “This collaboration is built on the quadruple-helix model with the active participation of Government, academia, private enterprises and civil society. The broad vision of the collaboration is to strengthen the healthcare delivery system by an outcome and result based approach”.

Director Dr. Randeep Guleria, commented, “AIIMS Delhi was created to serve as a nucleus for nurturing excellence in all aspects of healthcare. The institution continues to serve humanity by advancing knowledge, improving healthcare and saving lives. AIIMS Delhi is at the forefront of using innovation to improve therapeutics and translate science insights into new treatments. The India-Sweden Innovation Centre collaboration will further strengthen our efforts in finding innovative solutions for affordable and accessible healthcare in India.”

Director Dr. Sanjeev Misra, commented, “AIIMS Jodhpur has been established with a mission to be a Centre of Excellence in medical education, training, research and patient care. The institution is committed to providing better services to patients by using innovation across all aspects. In line with Government of India’ ‘Digital India’ initiative, the institute went paperless and has organized multiple conferences where Innovation was a central theme. With AIIMS Jodhpur hosting important components of the India-Sweden Innovation Centre collaboration, the institution will contribute to create positive impact across the healthcare delivery system in the country.”

The Centre is envisioned to develop an ecosystem of open innovation that healthcare delivery stakeholders can use to collaborate and address current and future challenges in the healthcare sector in India. It will enable development and scale up of solutions through frugal innovation for affordable and accessible healthcare in line with the objectives of the Government of India, including technology, data, protocols and processes, skill development and business models.