India has Identified Three Health Priorities to Strengthen Global Health Infrastructure, says WHO

According to Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia, India's G20 presidency has identified three health priorities: strengthening global health infrastructure, delivering health, and providing universal health coverage. She said this in a video, thanking India for recognising and prioritising health during its G20 presidency. "The first is digital health, the future of health," said the WHO Regional Director.

The G20 presidency of India focuses on consolidating existing digital health initiatives and fostering equity in health care by expanding efforts to include tools such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence." She stated that last month, the WHO and the G20 India presidency launched a new Global Initiative on Digital Health to support this transformation. "Under India's presidency, the G20 has also prioritised strengthening health emergency preparedness and response with a focus on anti-microbial resistance and One Health Framework, which recognises the interconnection between people, animals, and plants and their shared environment in order to withstand future shocks not just from infectious diseases but from all types of health hazards," Dr Singh said.

"Another key priority is to strengthen pharmaceutical sector cooperation, with a focus on ensuring availability and access to safe, effective, high-quality, and affordable medical countermeasures such as vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics."G20 Health Ministers meeting in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) last month expressed support for a WHO-led inclusive consultative process to develop an interim medical countermeasures coordination mechanism." "We live in an increasingly interconnected world," said the WHO Director. India's 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' philosophy of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' is a clarion call to the world to work together to build a better future for our health and the health of our planet."