Shillong: In a step towards transforming Meghalaya’s healthcare landscape, a round-table discussion on ‘Private Sector Engagement in Meghalaya’s Health Sector’ was held at IIM Shillong.The event, held on Friday, was a collaborative effort involving Meghalaya’s department of health & family welfare, German International Cooperation (GIZ) under the GSDP Project, IIM Shillong, and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.Over 50 representatives from Meghalaya govt, GIZ, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, German consulate, development partners, industry experts and healthcare stakeholders attended the event to identify areas of collaboration for strengthening healthcare in Meghalaya.Germany brings ‘strong capabilities’ in medical technology, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and digital health, said Gabriele Manig, deputy consul general of Germany in Kolkata.Henrike Peichert, GSDP project head, GIZ, highlighted their work to localise sustainable development goals and enhance district-level data use for decision-making.Meghalaya’s commissioner and secretary (health & family welfare) Joram Beda highlighted state’s recent health sector innovations, including the MOTHER App, rescue mission, transit homes, and drone-based medicine delivery to remote areas. “These local initiatives have contributed to improvements in maternal and infant health outcomes and have shown how context-specific innovations can address difficult service delivery challenges in a geographically complex state,” the health commissioner said.Sampath Kumar, additional chief secretary, highlighted the state’s emerging work in AI-enabled TB screening, under which around 90,000 people have been screened, as well as experiments in virtual reality for improving health outcomes.A panel discussion on ‘challenges and opportunities in mobilising healthcare finance’ explored how Meghalaya can attract private sector participation while protecting public health priorities.The discussion identified several priority areas for action such as developing three-to-six-month specialised training modules for medical officers, exploring all-weather last-mile logistics solutions for drug delivery, mapping unmet needs in infrastructure, skills and technology, strengthening telemedicine with local language support, improving data integration between public and private health systems, and aligning CSR investments with Meghalaya’s health sector needs.
