The 20th edition of the annual healthcare conference FICCI HEAL 2026 is being held on 27 and 28 October at FICCI Federation House, New Delhi, under the theme “HEAL@20: From Vision to Value”. The conference is supported by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and NITI Aayog. It is organised annually by FICCI, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and it has been organised annually since 2007. The 20th edition marks two decades of the conference as a meeting place for people who work in health care, policy and industry.
The theme, “HEAL@20: From Vision to Value”, points to a shift from plans to results. Vision, in this context, means the goals set for health care over the past two decades. Value means what patients, hospitals and health systems actually gain from those goals, in terms of access, quality and outcomes. A FICCI conference that uses that theme is asking its speakers and delegates to judge past plans by what they delivered, rather than by what they promised.
FICCI keynote and CEO policy roundtable
Prof M Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog, will deliver the keynote address and chair the high level, closed door CEO Policy Roundtable on “Healthcare@2047: Shaping India’s Health Agenda for Viksit Bharat”. A CEO policy roundtable brings chief executives together to discuss policy in a closed setting, where participants can speak more freely than in a public session.
The roundtable title looks ahead to 2047, the year India will mark 100 years of independence. “Viksit Bharat” means a developed India, and the roundtable asks what the health agenda for that goal should be. That long horizon forces a different kind of discussion from a debate about next year’s budget or next year’s targets. It asks what workforce, hospitals, digital systems and funding models will be needed over more than two decades, and what steps taken now will shape that future.
Prataprao G Jadhav, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, has been invited as Chief Guest to deliver the inaugural address. The inaugural address opens a conference and sets out the government’s view of the subject. A chief guest from the health ministry gives delegates a direct statement of government priorities, and it gives the ministry a chance to hear industry and professional views in the sessions that follow.
FICCI focus on access and affordability
The 20th FICCI edition will focus on access, affordability, quality and patient centric care. Access means whether a patient can reach care at all, in terms of distance, waiting time and availability of a doctor or a hospital bed. Affordability means whether a patient can pay for that care without hardship, after insurance and out of pocket costs are taken into account. Quality means whether the care given meets accepted standards and improves the patient’s health. Patient centric care means care organised around the patient’s needs, rather than around the convenience of the institution.
Workforce development is also on the agenda. Health care depends on doctors, nurses, technicians and community health workers, and a shortage in any group can limit what a hospital or clinic can do. Workforce development covers training, recruitment, retention and the distribution of staff between cities and rural areas. It also covers new roles created by digital health and by changes in how care is delivered.
FICCI talks on partnerships and digital health
Public private partnerships are another focus of the FICCI conference. Such partnerships bring government and private providers together to run services, build hospitals or deliver specific programmes. The government brings public funding and a mandate to serve all citizens, while a private partner may bring management systems, capital or specialist skills. The terms of such a partnership matter, because they decide who bears the cost, who sets the price for patients and who is accountable when a service fails.
Digital health is the final focus named for the conference. Digital health covers electronic records, telemedicine, online appointments and data systems that track disease and treatment. Those tools can cut waiting time, reduce repeated tests and help a doctor in one place see the record of a patient treated elsewhere. They also raise questions about data privacy, about access for patients without a smartphone or a stable internet connection and about who owns and controls health data. The FICCI conference, held on 27 and 28 October at Federation House in New Delhi with support from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and NITI Aayog, brings those questions together under the theme “HEAL@20: From Vision to Value”.