Regional director of World Health Organisation’s (WHO) South East-Asia Region, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, on September 6, said that India’s theme for the G20 Summit this year, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, is a clarion call for the world to take action in building a better future in the health sector.
“We live in an increasingly interconnected world. India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ is a clarion call to the world for the need to collectively work together to build a better future for our health, and the health of our planet,” Khetrapal told media.
WHO regional director added that India has identified three health priorities that aim to strengthen global health infrastructure, deliver health, and provide universal health coverage under its G20 presidency.
She said, “India’s G20 presidency focuses on consolidating the existing digital health initiatives and fostering equity in health care by amplifying efforts to incorporate tools such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence.”
While congratulating India for hosting G20 this year in New Delhi, she thanked India for recognising and prioritising health.
Just last month, the WHO and G20 India presidency launched a new Global Initiative on Digital Health which aims to support this transformation.
Under India’s presidency, the G20 has also prioritized strengthening health emergency preparedness and response with a focus on anti-microbial resistance and One Health Framework which recognizes the interconnection between people, animals, and plants and their shared environment to withstand future shocks not just from infectious diseases but all types of health hazards.
Another key priority aims to strengthen cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on ensuring availability and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable medical countermeasures like vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
Towards this, G20 Health Ministers meeting in Gandhinagar, India, last month extended their support for a WHO-led inclusive consultative process for the development of an interim medical countermeasures coordination mechanism.
India is all set to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi from September 9-10. World leaders will arrive in New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit. The summit will be hosted at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Notably, India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and since then about 200 meetings related to G20 have been organized in 60 cities across the country.
(with inputs from ANI)
