Dr. Prathap C Reddy

Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group

The visionary Founder Chairman of Apollo Hospitals, is widely credited as being the architect ...

Dr. Prathap C Reddy, the visionary Founder Chairman of Apollo Hospitals, is widely credited as being the architect of modern Indian healthcare. His vision of bringing world-class healthcare within the economic and geographic reach of millions of patients was the genesis of Apollo Hospitals.

The first Apollo opened its doors in 1983, and heralded the private healthcare revolution in the nation.

Apollo Hospitals introduced international quality healthcare to India, at a cost which was a tenth of comparable costs in the Western world. This was Apollo’s first act of social responsibility and the Group has stayed true to Dr. Reddy’s vision in its journey of over three decades. The business model designed by him was inherently scalable, replicable, sustainable and it fostered the emergence of the healthcare sector in India, as we know it today. Dr. Reddy’s vision, acumen and ideal of uncompromised quality motivated numerous individuals in India and across the world to set forth, emulate the model and taking high quality medical care closer to their patients.

Professional Achievement

Under the leadership of Dr. Prathap C Reddy, the Apollo Hospitals Group has touched over 45 million lives, and has emerged as Asia’s foremost and trusted integrated healthcare provider. A true visionary, Dr. Reddy has been instrumental in pioneering several game-changing innovations in Indian healthcare like clinical excellence, inclusive insurance, telemedicine, preventive health checks, among several others.

As a champion of the powerful premise that ‘Life is Priceless’, Dr. Reddy has been a tireless crusader against the menace of Non Communicable Diseases, a dark cloud of ill-health looming over India. Dr. Reddy envisioned the ambitious Billion Hearts Beating campaign to start a nation-wide awakening to heart health. He has consistently been playing a pivotal role in the development of healthcare as a sector, by helming several forums like the NATHEALTH, the Healthcare Federation of India.

For his immense contribution to the health and healthcare of India, the nation has honoured Dr. Prathap C Reddy with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award.

Championing Innovation

Always the visionary, Dr. Reddy has harnessed technology and insurance to reach healthcare to the masses. The pioneering success of telemedicine and innovative insurance in Aragonda, the world’s first V-SAT enabled village in remote Seemandhra validates the concept of ‘Healthcare for All’. Recognising that telemedicine can help meet the increasing demand for universal access to high quality medicine, irrespective of geography, Dr. Reddy led his team to set up 150 telemedicine centres across 17 countries.

Dr. Reddy was at the helm of the revolutionary Reach Hospitals initiative from Apollo – taking world-class healthcare to semi-urban and rural India. This blueprint is carrying good health to the very heart of India and in 2012, Apollo Reach Hospitals was conferred the G20 Award for Inclusive Business Innovation and it was the only healthcare organization in the world to receive the award.

A tireless advocate for creating access through insurance, Dr. Reddy firmly believes that mandatory health insurance is critical for the nation and has been actively campaigning for its implementation across the country. The innovative insurance project, at a cost of Rs.1 a day that he introduced in his native village decades ago, paved the way for many community insurance products prevalent in the country today.

A Dedicated Philanthropist

In an on-going effort to raise awareness about the value of health and wellness amongst India’ s diverse population, and in enabling healthcare equity across the various socio-economic groups in the country, Apollo Hospitals runs awareness campaigns, facilitates surgeries and treatments, and conducts health camps in both urban and rural areas on a regular basis. Dr. Prathap C Reddy gives the Group’s its ideological guidance across its wide range of socially conscious initiative. He has helped shape and breathe life to some of Apollo’s most far-reaching programmes like the Billion Hearts Beating (BHB) initiative; launched in April 2010, aimed at informing, educating & triggering a positive action towards heart disease with the simple 5 Solution – get active; eat healthy; quit smoking; beat stress and get a regular health check.

Dr. Reddy has also helmed some of Apollo’s other key CSR initiatives like Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired(SAHI), Saving a Child’s Heart initiative (SACHi) and CURE. These initiatives have played a invaluable role in reaching out to under privileged children, and other needy sections of society.

“Healer: Dr. Prathap C Reddy and the Transformation of India,”

Dr. Reddy’s incredible journey is captured through a biography entitled “Healer: Dr. Prathap C Reddy and the Transformation of India,” authored by Pranay Gupte, veteran international journalist, biographer and historian. It was published by Penguin, the world’s largest publisher.

Leadership

• 1991 – Conferred the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India
• 1992 – Invited by the Government of India to be member of the Working Group on Health Financing and Management
• 1993 – The Mother St. Teresa’s ‘Citizen of the Year’ award
• 1997 – Business India – Top 50 personalities who made a difference to India since Independence
• 1998 – Sir Nilrattan Sircar Memorial Oration (JIMA) award for single-handedly making super speciality care available to a vast section of society
• 2000 – Conferred the Fellowship Ad Hominem by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
• 2001 – Ernst & Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award
• 2002 – Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hospimedica International
• 2004 – Franchise Award for Excellence in Business Development
• 2005 – The ‘Asia – Pacific Bio leadership Award’ by the Marshall School of Business Appointed as a Member of the Indo – US CEO’s Forum by the Prime Minister of India
• 2006 – ‘Modern Medicare Excellence Award 2006’, by the ICICI Group, for his outstanding achievements in the healthcare industry
• 2007 – Appointed Chairman of the CII National Healthcare Committee
• 2009 – The Government of India honours Apollo Hospitals with a Commemorative Postage Stamp
• 2010 – Govt. of India conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India
• 2010 – Lifetime Achievement Award from Rotary International and Frost & Sullivan
• 2011 – Lifetime Achievement award from the FICCI Lifetime Contribution Award from AIMA
• 2012 – Apollo Hospitals was the winner of G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation for the Apollo Reach Hospitals initiative
• 2013 – NDTV Indian Lifetime Achievement Award Asian Business Leaders Lifetime Achievement award.
• 2013 – CNBC TV18 Lifetime Achievement Award for India Business Leaders Awards
• 2013 – Asian Business Leaders Forum Lifetime (ABLF) Achievement Award
• 2015 – All India Management Institute confers the Lifetime Achievement Award