Apollo wins G20 challenge on inclusive business innovation

India’s Apollo Hospitals Group won the G20 challenge on inclusive business innovation, a competition launched by the Group of 20 and International Finance Corporation (IFC), at a ceremony hosted in Mexico. Ambassador Rogelio Granguillhome, Executive Secretary of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation and Chair of the G20 Development Working Group, Dr Edmund Duckwitz, Ambassador of Germany to Mexico and Lars Thunell, Executive Vice President of IFC, presented the awards.

Apollo Hospitals Group was declared the winner – the world’s only healthcare organisation to win this honour – for its ‘Reach Hospitals’ initiative, which takes quality tertiary healthcare to semi-urban and rural areas in India. Apollo Reach Hospitals were created to bridge the healthcare access gap by making specialised healthcare available to the poorest people. The Apollo Reach Hospital in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh was chosen by Apollo Hospitals Group to represent its model in the G20 challenge. 

Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “We are extremely proud to be recognised by the G20 for our efforts in bringing about a visible change in the lives of people at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). More than 25 percent of families in India live on the margins, spending less than $ 70 a month on goods and services. Many of their basic needs go unmet, and they have little access to clean water, financial services, and education. More than 85 percent of these families live outside major cities. Unfortunately, most tertiary healthcare facilities in India are located in major metropolitan areas – meaning that most Indians have little or no access to specialised healthcare services. We consider it our responsibility to extend the same kind of healthcare services and facilities to smaller towns. This is our way of reinvesting in the ecosystem and contributing to the Indian society at large.”

Apollo Reach Hospitals operate in less-developed population centres – termed tier II cities – and offer medical care at rates up to 30 percent lower than other major hospitals.

The online competition was launched to find the best examples worldwide of businesses in developing countries that provide critical goods, services, and livelihood opportunities in financially, environmentally, and socially sustainable ways to those living at the bottom of the pyramid, called ‘inclusive businesses’.