Sector Brief:
Wellness, the sunrise industry of the 21st century in the Indian Services Market stands at Rs. 11,000-crore and is poised to grow at a double-digit rate over the next five years, with certain sectors, such as spas and beauty treatments, projected to grow at more than 35–40% driven by the country’s current demand and supply dynamics. India’s Wellness vertical is at its tipping point, a period for players to tap, exploit, and participate in this potentially lucrative industry.
Change the only constant, manifests itself aptly in the significant shift in epidemiological concerns as the country braces itself to address the resultant effects of transitioning into a global superpower. Public health systems are now faced with the grim backdrop of changing epidemiological concerns. Tackling concerns of Polio, Malaria and Tuberculosis; we are now staring into concerns over Diabetes, Cardio-vascular diseases (CVD), Cancers, Mental health and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Increased stress on an over burdened care delivery system. Every year, an estimated 115 crore cases of ailments are reported and approximately 3 crore cases of hospitalization this is explicitly reflected in the expectancy of healthy life at birth. While life expectancy at birth is 63 years, healthy life expectancy is only 53 years – a gap in the expectancy of healthy life at birth of 10 years.
Necessitating a shift in focus from curative led Health corrective measures to preventive based Wellness initiatives. Demonstrated explicitly by the supply side, both private and public, which is increasingly moving away from “curative wellbeing” to “preventive and lifestyle wellbeing” by providing services ranging from health-oriented hospitals, pharmacies and alternative therapies to rejuvenation-based spas and yoga centers, scientifically designed gyms, and beauty-based salons and cosmetic procedures.
To facilitate the desired changes and encourage healthy growth of the Wellness vertical, a well-defined partnership between the government and the private sector is essential, with timely inputs from the currently few organized players, towards which the committee has been working since the last one year. The accreditation standard for Wellness Centers (Accreditation Standards for Wellness Centres – NABH, QCI) to provide standardization in service quality was the first step in this direction.
Objectives:
- Provide networking and collaboration platform to facilitate dialogue between players of Wellness space to facilitate streamlining of sectoral issues amongst stake-holders
- Sensitize stakeholders including central and state governments to provide impetus for creating vibrant and competitive sector
- Provide recommendations for policy changes that would organize the sector
- Define road map for synergistic coordination between public and private sector to encourage accessibility of services and achieve MDG
- Study and promote Quality Assurance on services for both consumer and provider
- Develop white papers on relevant issues with stakeholder consultation
Past Events:
- Annual Conference - FICCI Wellness,2009 : Exploring the Untapped Potential, April, 2009.
- FICCI – QCI Accreditation Program for Wellness Centers, Mumbai, January, 2010
Future Events:
25th August, 2010
Studies:
FICCI-EY Knowledge Report on Wellness: Exploring the Untapped Potential
For More Information, Contact:
Ashwin Khanna (ashwin[at]ficci.com)
