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Indian Journal of Medical Sciences

Biography

The visionary who transformed private health care in India

Raju Vaishya
Department of Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgery, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, Delhi, India.

ABSTRACT
Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy is the Founder-Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group (AHG) and is considered a living legend and architect of modern
private health care in India. In 1983, Dr. Reddy started the first professionally run private hospital – Apollo Hospitals in Madras (now Chennai). Since
then, the AHG has expanded to over 73 hospitals across the country. The state-of-the-art facilities have made advanced health-care services accessible
and affordable to all in need. AHG has a presence in primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, quarterly care, health IT, tele-health (tele-consults, tele-
pathology, tele-cardiology, and tele-radiology), eICU pharmacy retailing, project consultancy, research, and academics. He catalyzed a “reverse brain
drain” by inspiring hundreds of Non-Resident Indian Doctors to come back to India, by creating opportunities and providing them with a world class
medical ecosystem. Dr. Reddy’s contributions are widely recognized by patients, doctors, the health-care fraternity across the world, the community at
large, and by the Government of India.

Keywords: Health care, Prathap Chandra Reddy, Awards, Apollo Hospitals, Visionary, Legend, India

INTRODUCTION up as the “Sui Generis” or the “Real Healer” in a league of his

At the age of 50, when most people would typically start own.
planning for their retirement, Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy
[Figure 1] took a bold step to revolutionize the state of the EARLY LIFE AND MEDICAL CAREER
health-care sector in the country. He founded the first Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy was born on February 5, 1933, in
hospital, which was professionally run, in Madras in 1983. a small village in Aragonda, Madras Presidency, British India
He built Apollo Hospitals from scratch to provide state-of- (present day Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India). He is happily
the-art and high-end diagnostic and treatment services to the married to Sucharitha Reddy for the past 63 years and is
people of India and its neighboring countries. blessed with four dynamic daughters.
He was committed to providing an international standard of After completing his undergraduate medical education
health care to all with great compassion and at a fraction of in Madras at Stanley Medical College, India, he moved to
the cost in comparison to the developed world. Dr. Reddy the USA for higher medical education and training. He
chose the name “Apollo” for his hospitals after the Greek qualified as a cardiologist and was trained at the prestigious
God “Apollo” who was known as the God of heavenly light, Harvard University and thereafter worked at the renowned
illuminating a man’s soul and thus Apollo Hospitals aimed to Massachusetts General Hospital, USA. After practicing in
provide similar yeoman service. the USA, he returned to Madras in 1971 and practiced as a
Dr. Reddy is a true visionary who transformed India’s health- Cardiologist at the HM hospital for nearly a decade. The idea
care sector by making advanced medical accessible and and conviction of starting a world-class hospital came to his
affordable to the people of India. He has focused on quality, mind after he lost a 38-year-old young man who needed a
affordability, and accessibility which he called an “Iron cardiac surgery, but could not raise $50,000 to go abroad for the
Triangle.”[1] The Apollo Group’s revolutionary impact on treatment and sadly, passed away. Dr. Reddy pledged to provide
health-care delivery has been so significant that the health- an infrastructure that would offer the best of what is available
care services can now be demarcated into “before and after globally, to the patients at an affordable cost and right at their
Apollo.” It is for this reason that; Dr. Reddy has been summed doorsteps.
*Corresponding author: Raju Vaishya, Department of Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgery, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, Delhi, India.
raju.vaishya@gmail.com
Received: 11 August 2021 Accepted: 12 August 2021 EPub Ahead of Print: 23 August 2021 Published: 24 September 2021 DOI 10.25259/IJMS_403_2021

is is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the
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 Vaishya: The visionary who transformed private health care in India

He founded the first corporate hospital of India in Madras best. AHGs mission is “To bring healthcare of international
in 1983, named it the Apollo Hospital. Since then, he has standards within reach of all. We are committed to achieving
transformed Indian health care and Apollo Hospitals Group and maintaining excellence in education, research, and
(AHG) is now, Asia’s trusted and foremost integrated health- health care for the benefit of humanity.”
care organization.[2]
Reversing brain drain
ACHIEVEMENTS
Dr. Reddy persuaded and influenced hundreds of Indian
In recognition of his exemplary contribution in the doctors working abroad (Non-Resident Indians) to return
development of health care in India, the Government of to India and practice in his state-of-the-art hospitals,
India awarded Dr. Reddy with prestigious awards, including thus reversing the phenomenon of “brain drain.” In the 73
the 2nd and 3rd highest civilian awards, namely [Figure 2], hospitals of the Apollo Group, there are around 5000 highly
the “Padma Vibhushan” in 2010 and the “Padma Bhushan” qualified and skilled senior doctors (consultants and senior
in 1991, and released a postal stamp of Apollo Hospitals in consultants) in various medical and surgical specialties.
2009. He has also contributed significantly to retard the outflow
India Today magazine has ranked him in the list of the top of trained doctors, nurses, and other paramedical staff to
50 most powerful people of India.[3] Dr. Reddy’s journey other countries, by providing excellent working and job
of healing was certainly not easy, as he had to overcome a opportunities in his hospitals in India.
mountain of resistance and other teething troubles.
Dr. Reddy is also the recipient of several lifetime achievements Popularizing preventive healthcare
like EY Entrepreneur of the Year (March 2021),[4] and many Dr. Reddy popularized the concept of “prevention is better
other distinguished awards. He was conferred with the highly than the treatment” and started the program of preventive
prestigious “Lions Humanitarian Award” (2018) for his health checks in Apollo Hospitals, which are very popular
astounding humanitarian efforts. He thus became the fifth and much sought by individuals and corporate for their
Indian and the second medical doctor to be conferred with employees. Until now, more than 25 million preventive health
this honor.[5] checks have been undertaken at various Apollo Hospitals.[5]
The latest offering is an AI driven Pro Health program.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Dr. Reddy is best described as a compassionate humanitarian Creating several state-of-the-art hospitals
who dedicated his life to bringing world-class health care
within the economic and geographic reach of million’s. The institution that he envisioned and has built – Apollo
Dr. Reddy has created a successful healthcare delivery Hospitals, has steered a revolution and marked the birth of
model, which many other health-care providers subsequently private healthcare in India. AHG has a PAN India presence
emulated in India. At the age of 88, he has the zeal to bring [Figure 3]. Since inception over 37 years ago, 73 state-of-the-
Indian health care to the level or even better the world’s art Apollo Hospitals have been established, making Apollo the

Figure 2: Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy receiving “Padma Vibhushan”

Figure 1: Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy, a living legend. award from the President of India.

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 Vaishya: The visionary who transformed private health care in India

largest chain of hospitals in India, with more than 10,000 beds, for a law to govern organ donation. He acted as a powerful
≈4000 pharmacies, and 150 telemedicine centers.[6] There are advocate for the Transplant of Human Organs Act 1994 and
also ≈150 primary care clinics set up by the Apollo Group. the Transplantation of Human Organ Rules 1995 through
Eight Apollo Hospitals have Joint Commission International numerous representations with parliamentarians and
accreditation, and 31 hospitals have NABH accreditations. ministers.[1] The first multiorgan transplant in the country
Apollo Hospitals are considered trendsetters for India’s private was performed at Apollo Hospitals, Madras, on December
health-care delivery system and are the reference point for 25, 1995. In 2012, 544 kidney and 269 liver transplants
peers in the Indian health-care industry. The hospitals have were performed at Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, in a calendar
touched the lives of more than 150 million people so far across year, making it the busiest standalone transplant center in
140 countries.[7] Apollo’s ambitious visions for the next phase of the world.[1] Every year since 2013, the Apollo Transplant
development are to “Touch a Billion Lives.” Program has performed more than 1200 solid organ
transplants ever year. Even during the COVID pandemic,
Promoting research and education 823 transplants were performed (personal communication).
Dr. Reddy established the first Proton Therapy Centre to
Dr. Reddy has supported and encouraged medical research cater to 3 billion people in Asia and Africa. Apollo’s Centre
through the Apollo Hospital Educational Research of Excellence for Cardiac Sciences, Cancer, Neurosciences,
Foundation, which recognizes the medical fraternity’s Orthopedics, Emergency Care, and Robotic Surgery are at
research work annually by giving them citations and cash the forefront of advanced medicine.
awards. Fourteen Apollo Hospitals are recognized centers
for the Diplomat of National Board (DNB) of Examination Popularizing medical tourism
for providing post-graduate training in 44 specialties and
superspecialties. More than 900 postgraduate students are Dr. Reddy popularized and introduced high-quality medical
currently undergoing training DNB and FNB courses.[6] services to other South East Asian, African, and the Middle
East countries. He is renowned as the champion of India’s
Under the mentorship of Dr. Reddy, Apollo Hospitals runs
medical tourism, which has helped thousands of patients
a peer-reviewed quarterly journal by the name of “Apollo
from different countries and also boosted the Indian
Medicine,” which is being published regularly for the past
economy. Apollo Hospitals are known to have treated
16 years and provides a valuable platform for healthcare
patients from 140 countries at their facilities.[6]
professionals in the world to publish their research.[8]
Leadership in Indian health care
Bringing the latest technology and treatments
Dr. Reddy has excellent leadership qualities and has
Dr. Reddy always believed in bringing in the best and contributed to Indian health care by being at the helm of
the latest technology for diagnosis and treatment – be several prestigious organizations and has created institutions
it the world’s best CT and MRI scanners or Cancer and such as Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin,
Radiotherapy equipment (Novalis TX, Cyberknife, NATHEALTH.
Cyclotron, etc.). Dr. Reddy played a key role in campaigning
Contributions during COVID-19 pandemic

Under Dr. Reddy’s leadership and guidance, the AHG

developed a distinctive, comprehensive approach (“Project
Kavach”) encompassing all the vital aspects – information,
assessment, testing, treatment, and isolation to fight the
novel coronavirus.[9,10] In <1 year, Apollo touched millions of
lives through this project by completing 18 million COVID
risk assessment scans, performed over 500,000 tests, and
successfully treated more than 100,000 patients across the
nation (personal communication).

PERSONALITY
Dr. Reddy is blessed with an outstanding ability to empathize
with people, size up the situation, and provide amicable
solutions to all. He is soft-spoken, polite, intelligent in gauging
Figure 3: A PAN India presence of Apollo group of hospitals. people, and is always positive in his approach. He always

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 Vaishya: The visionary who transformed private health care in India

carries himself with authority and in a charming attire. Acknowledgments

He is a true visionary and an entrepreneur. He is innovative I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Anupam Sibal and
in finding and providing solutions to complex challenges. Dr. Abhishek Vaish for their valuable inputs in providing
Although he is very successful, he stays very grounded with crucial information regarding Dr. Prathap C. Reddy and
his accomplishments and does not rest on his laurels. He is Apollo Hospitals, which has helped in making this biography
constantly thinking of ways to improve services and do more, more in-depth about our living legend.
every day for the patient and community.
Dr. Reddy is a strict disciplinarian and is a “God-fearing” Declaration of patient consent
personality. He believes that God gives him power and energy
Patient’s consent not required as there are no patients in this
to do so much work, and the faith in it helps to drive all the
study.
actions.1 He believes in 3Ps: Purity, Persistence, and Patience.
He demonstrated the importance of women empowerment
Financial support and sponsorship
in the business by appointing his four daughters [Figure 4],
Preetha, Suneeta, Sangita, and Shobana who have excelled in Nil.
senior leadership roles in AHG.[11]
Conflicts of interest
CONCLUSION
There are no conflicts of interest.
Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy is the Founder-Chairman of
Apollo Hospitals and is acknowledged as the architect of
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