Mangaluru: Trust is the base to establishing coastal Karnataka as a global healthcare destination, said Dr K Sharath Rao, vice-chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), at the first edition of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Mangaluru Healthcare Summit 2026 held on Saturday.Delivering the keynote address at the summit themed ‘Advancing coastal Karnataka as a global healthcare destination,’ Rao said patients choose healthcare institutions not just for treatment, but for trust, in doctors, institutions, and outcomes. This trust must form the base for positioning the region globally, he said. He said coastal Karnataka is at an inflection point with clinical excellence, reputed institutions, growing infrastructure, and rising patient inflow.He stressed integrating academia with healthcare research, citing ICU data analysis that enabled early prediction and prevention of lung infections and improving outcomes.Rao noted that healthcare delivery is gradually shifting from metros to tier-II cities due to advantages in quality and affordability. He also pointed to the coastal region’s clean environment, natural serenity, and hospitality as major factors attracting patients from across India and abroad.He said the region produces nearly 2,000 medical graduates, 700–800 specialists, and around 200 super-specialists annually, making it one of the most resource-rich healthcare ecosystems. Emphasising skill development, he called for centres of excellence to train and upskill doctors.Rao said artificial intelligence must move beyond image-based applications to focus on prevention, prediction, and personalised medicine. Today, doctors must be clinically confident, digitally fluent, ethically grounded, and deeply compassionate, he said.Dr Vijay Bhaskaran, COO of Kauvery Hospitals and convener CII Karnataka Healthcare taskforce said the region already has all elements to emerge as a healthcare destination, highlighting Karnataka’s rise in medical tourism rankings to the top three now. “Mangaluru stands out among other cities,” he said.He identified three priorities, building an integrated healthcare ecosystem spanning preventive, curative, wellness and alternative care, investing in talent to address retention, and strengthening trust in non-metro healthcare systems. Bhaskaran also stressed the need for technology adoption across the patient journey and effective branding to position the region globally. He said the summit must move beyond a one-day event to deliver actionable outcomes and policy recommendations.Dr Alexander Thomas, founder and patron of Association of Healthcare Providers (India) (AHPI), emphasised the need for collective efforts to position the region as an integrated global healthcare destination. He highlighted key focus areas such as scalable healthcare models for tier-II cities, adoption of medtech and AI, evolving doctor skillsets, and preventive care amid rising non-communicable diseases.Abhinav Bansal, chairman, CII Mangaluru and Ananthesh V Prabhu were present. Sessions such as transforming tier-2 healthcare, medtech and digital health were held.
