Affordability, inclusivity are India's key strengths: Ex-ICMR director gen

Former DG Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Balram Bhargava on Sunday addressed the 3rd G20 Health Working Group Meeting at Hyderabad, Telangana and said that when India is prepared, the world is prepared.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Balram Bhargava stated that "If Global North and South must collaborate then Medical Counter Measures should be renamed as Minimum Common Mechanism".

Elaborating further, he lauded the innovative digital platforms that were incepted during the pandemic and emphasized that preparedness must encompass human and animal health. He further added that G20 can play an integral role in driving public engagement.

He added that India's Covid-19 trajectory illustrates rapid development of VTDs, manufacturing infrastructure, and world-class research with speed and scale, drone delivery of vaccines, development of digital infrastructure such as Co-WIN that the world can learn from in building networks for scaling and delivering VTDs across the globe.

He further added "affordability, scale and inclusivity are key strengths of India that should be leveraged for larger benefit of the world. He concluded stating that "when India is prepared, the world is prepared."

On the occassion, Dr Bharati Praveen Pawar inaugurated the three-day meeting of the 3rd Health Working Group meeting under G20 India Presidency which is currently underway at Hyderabad.

While speaking at the event, she said,"The threat of pandemics is far from over. The need is to integrate and strengthen One Health-based surveillance systems."

"Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar also informed the delegates of India's proposal a Global initiative on Digital Health, a WHO-managed network that intends to converge ongoing initiatives in use of technology in the global health arena for the purpose of bridging the digital divide," the press release said.

During the event Prof S P Singh Baghel lauded the initiative to include prioritizing the issue of financing health systems and societies in the face of an emergency, besides preparedness financing by G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force and the G7.

Emphasizing on the traditional knowledge in healthcare, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said ,"Indian traditional knowledge system propagated preventive and holistic wellbeing for all."

During the first session on "Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness and Response", the key speakers were Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar (Retd.), Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Ms. Priya Basu, Executive Head, Pandemic Fund Secretariat, World Bank, Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, WHO and Chair, TAP, Pandemic Fund, Mr. Keiichi Hara, Deputy Director General for Global Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Co-Chair of G7 Health Working Group, Japan, Mr. Tokio Ozawa, Deputy Assistant Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan.

Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar (Retd.) elaborated that the notion of One Health has been integrated with Indian philosophy many centuries ago. She added that anti-microbial resistance (AMR) features as a key priority in India, hence absolutely remedial measures such as optimizing microbial agents in health and animal, strengthening the knowledge of evidence-based surveillance and improving the awareness and understanding of AMR have been part of the action plans in India.

She further added that now the concept of One Health has found resonance in many countries and recommended that improving of AMR is important and increased surveillance and research need to be promoted. She added that 'India is now ready to act local, but think global'.

Prof. Balram Bhargava, Former DG-ICMR and Secretary DHR, Chief of Cardiothoracic Centre, AIIMS, Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, WHO and Chair, TAP, Pandemic Fund, Dr. Richard J. Hatchett, Chief Executive Office, CEPI, Mr. Keiichi Hara, Deputy Director-General for Global Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Co-Chair of G7 Health Working Group, Japan featured as the key speakers for the second session on "Strengthening Cooperation in Pharmaceutical Sector with Focus on Access and Availability to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Medical Countermeasures".

Discussions in this session revolved around vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics (VTD) as well as building research and development manufacturing networks, facilitating upstream and downstream in delivery of (VTD)s across the globe.