Gandhinagar: India is moving towards achieving the goal of universal health care under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through more than 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat health and wellness centres, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday (August 17). He was speaking at the inauguration of the ‘One Earth One Health – Advantage Healthcare India 2023′ event held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar as part of India’s G20 presidency ahead of G20 Health Ministers’ meeting to be held on Friday. Dr Mandaviya in his keynote address said,
Under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been moving steadily towards the goal of sarvodaya, achieving universal health care through more than 1,50,000 health and wellness centres as well as the world’s biggest government funded health insurance scheme the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna. We are also making consistent efforts to contribute to the global health care ecosystem. Today, India is known as the pharmacy of the world. India is the largest provider of generic medicines with a share of 20 per cent in the global supply. We also contribute around 60 per cent of global vaccines.
On the occasion, Dr Mandaviya launched the ‘Advantage Health Care India – One Stop Digital Portal For Patient’ and the ‘Workforce Mobility’ portal, which he said will offer a tangible solution to some of the most pressing challenges in the health care sector today.
Launched the Advantage Healthcare India Portal at 'One Earth, One Health' #AHCI2023 in the presence of DG @WHO @DrTedros & Minister @SarbanandSonwal Ji.
???????? is moving towards the goal of 'Sarvodaya' & 'Antyodaya' under PM @NarendraModi Ji's leadership. pic.twitter.com/NKRMCuAetp
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) August 17, 2023
Elaborating on the Indian health system, he said the country is today supported by a workforce of 1.3 million allopathic doctors, 8 lakh AYUSH doctors and 3.4 million nurses and midwives. He said,
Through this highly qualified and skilful workforce, India plans to contribute to an organised system of workforce mobility, wherein India’s health care professionals travel to different parts of the world to serve the global community.
Medical value travel or medical tourism will enable greater knowledge-sharing, sustainable partnerships and increased synergies contributing to building a stronger global health architecture, he asserted. The Union Health Minister said,
We strive to build a more inclusive and equitable world where health care knows no boundaries and where skilled health care professionals can make a difference wherever they are. Our collective efforts will be towards creating a health care ecosystem that embraces the voice of every nation, every citizen and every being.
On the occasion, Union AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said traditional medicine, specifically AYUSH, has much to offer to the world. Minister Sonowal said,
Today, traditional medicine, specifically AYUSH, has much to offer to the common man, academicians and to the industry and to the entire world. The increasing demand for AYUSH in India and globally can be seen in the rise of the AYUSH industry. The manufacturing industry in AYUSH has been growing at a CAGR of 17 per cent from 2014 to 2020 and the current market size is projected to be USD 23.3 billion, which is indicative of the growing AYUSH ecosystem and its widespread adoption. Adoption of AYUSH in public health is also gaining momentum, especially after the (COVID) pandemic. We have the potential to be the world leader in the traditional health care sector. With increasing awareness about health and fitness and changing lifestyle, the demand for Ayurveda and its products has increased tremendously at the international level.
As per a PIB release, Dr Mandaviya, during the day, held various bilateral meetings with the European Union, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
It said the bilateral meeting with the European Union focused on exploring areas of collaboration in fortifying health care systems and enhancing capacities for disease surveillance and capacity building amongst other domains with a particular focus on Ayurveda Telemedicine, clinical trials and research in India for EU-based pharmaceutical companies.
Also Read: Traditional Medicine Can Improve People-Centred Health Care: WHO’s Poonam Khetrapal Singh
The meeting with Saudi Arabia involved exchange of experiences and best practices on regulatory requirements, joint ventures, technology transfer especially in APIs towards de-risking supply chains and boosting resilience therein, said the release.
Germany and India’s meeting focused on cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector, including drug regulators and in pharmacopeia, ICMR and federal ministry of education and research, strengthening value-based health care through medical value travel, cooperation in traditional medicine, promotion of digital public goods and cooperation in digital health.
The release said future orientation will include cooperation under MoU between ICMR, and German Research Foundation, cooperation under Special arrangement between ICMR and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany Delhi under Indo-German S&T Agreement, revision in Minimum Viable Product among others.
Also Read:One Child Or Youth Died In Every 4.4 Seconds In 2021 Due To Lack Of Basic Health Care: UN Report
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
