Indian and the Netherlands today signed an agreement to boost collaborations between the two countries in the areas of communicable diseases, public health policy, e-health, and medical products among others.
Under the agreement both countries could also encourage greater research collaborations among their universities, foundations, industry and the health services, an official statement said.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his Dutch counterpart Edith I Schippers.
Azad said the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries would result in mutually beneficial exchanges.
"This is a very positive development and a step forward from the sectoral MoU between respective food regulatory authorities in the area of food safety," he said.
Schippers said the MoU would strengthen ties between the two countries in the areas of health. She said that her country had the experience of PPPs in the health sector and that they could cooperate in this field.
Azad expressed his happiness that the United Nations had recognised the importance of health in the next generation of global development goals beyond 2015, suggesting an illustrative goal of "ensuring healthy lives".
The agreement coincides with the ongoing debate on the development goals the global community should set next, he added.
Schippers had visited New Delhi in May 2012 when the both countries explored the possibilities of cooperation in public health and drug regulatory mechanisms.
It was followed up by Azad's visit to the Netherlands in October 2012 to attend a conference on "Responsible Use of Medicines & Anti-Microbial Resistance".
