India played crucial role in vaccine development, mfg drugs: WHO scientist

India played an integral role globally in the development of vaccines and manufacturing of drugs, diagnostics, and therapeutics in the three years of the Coronavirus pandemic, said World Health Organization's (WHO) Chief Scientist Jeremy Farrar on Tuesday.

"India has played a key role in ensuring digital health reaches everyone in the world -- universal coverage and primary care and making sure we live in a more equitable world in the future," Farrar said.

According to the PTI report, Dr Farrar's comment came while he was attending the third G20 Health Working Group meeting in Hyderabad. He lauded India for the way it has organised the G20 presidency despite complications and tensions around the world.

 

He further added, "The world's a very complicated place at the moment. It's tense. We all lived through the last three years of a terrific pandemic. India played an absolutely critical role in science and technology, the development of vaccines, manufacturing of drugs, diagnostics, and therapeutics. It played a key role globally."

He also said that the two main things that are bringing the countries at the G20 meeting together are digital health initiatives, and science & technology, research & development, and manufacturing.

Farrar noted that the progress that has been made in Hyderabad in the last few days is to make sure that we have a future with inevitable pandemics where we have more equitable access to countermeasures we need -- drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines -- and India along with partners at the G20 can provide that for the world.

The G20 meeting in Hyderabad is being held from June 4 to June 6 and it focuses on three priorities in the health track -

- The first priority is health emergency prevention along with preparedness and response with a focus on antimicrobial resistance and the One Health framework.

- The second priority is increasing cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on access and availability to safe, effective, quality, and affordable medical countermeasures.

- The third is the innovations and solutions  in digital health to aid universal health coverage, while simultaneously improving healthcare service delivery, the report said.

(With inputs from PTI)