Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited along with Quess Corp. Ltd. announced the signing of a MoA with Christian Medical College, Vellore, to set up a paediatric specialty centre at its Kannigapuram campus. The proposed centre, which will be called the `CMC Vellore Paediatric Specialty Centre', will have 350 beds covering a range of paediatric specialties.

Fairfax and Quess have pledged up to INR 300cr towards setting up this centre, with the vision to provide leading paediatric medical and surgical services. In addition to treatment, the centre will also focus on education, training and research. This will help meet the medical needs of patients coming not only from different parts of India but across the globe for consultation and treatment.

Research suggests that over 7% of India's population is pushed into poverty every year due to healthcare costs. Even though the Indian government has committed to increase healthcare spending to 2.5% of the GDP by 2025, it will remain much lower than the global average necessitating meaningful philanthropy from private institutions to help democratize access to affordable quality healthcare. CMC, a renowned medical college of international repute, attracts patients from all economic backgrounds and plays a pivotal role in providing access to affordable quality healthcare.

The Fairfax-Quess partnership aims to support CMC's culture of caring for the poor and vulnerable and maintaining a fine balance between providing quality treatment while being inclusive and minimizing the financial burden on patients. The centre, upon completion, will be located in a building named the `Fairfax-Quess Block' and will add to the existing capacity of the well-renowned multi-specialty medical institution in Vellore. It will also support the development of programs, services and resources that are scalable and transferable for potential expansion to future sites across the country.

The MoA also outlines the formation of a `Project Implementation Committee' that will be set up for the guidance, supervision and management of the project during the planning, construction and operational phases. The committee will be chaired by the Director of CMC Vellore and will consist of members nominated by CMC Vellore, Fairfax and Quess.