External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted India’s record of global disaster response and contribution to wellness while speaking at the 12th international health dialogue, in New Delhi.
Addressing the valedictory session of the dialogue, he said that India has delivered more than 600 significant projects in 78 nations across the world. Of these, many are in the health sector.
Stressing the need for collaboration, the seasoned diplomat, parliamentarian and minister, said, “In this day and age, health care is a fundamental right. It is not just a privilege. The global south cannot be a hostage to uncertain supply chains and the vagaries of the global economy. The Covid period was a real learning experience for all of us. We must be prepared for the next challenge.”
Jaishankar further said, “All of us want to strengthen health care system, enhance patient safety and ensure affordable access. These goals would be better achieved if we collaborate more closely and to the world, my message would be of the importance of international partnership.”
He added that the government values India’s private health industry as a partner as it has contributed to facilities and capacities across geographies.
The minister said that Indian companies as well as the Indian government have sought to localize production and to strengthen capabilities.
He added, “By diversifying the production of medicines and expanding the scale of medical professionals, India is strengthening the ability of the global south to address its core concerns. But today, I also want to make another point. It is not just the global south which requires a stronger medical partnership. So does the global north.”
He drew attention to an acute shortage of doctors, nurses and health workers in a very large number of countries in the global north in North America, in Europe and the far east.
“And when we today negotiate mobility partnerships, one driver of this is to help them address their growing health needs which obviously has to take into account their ageing population.”
He said that Indian hospitals have developed modules to treat international patients. ” We see this particularly as a notable contribution to global south societies for whom affordability and accessibility are key criterion. Through the ‘Heal in India’ initiative, our government is committed to promoting medical value, travel and making it easier for foreign patients to obtain treatment in India.”
Looking back at the time the COVID pandemic began engulfing the world, Jaishankar said that the initial deliberations envisaged India as potentially the biggest concern.
“Ironically, India ended up not only looking after its own needs but actually stepped forward to contribute to the world. We provided medicines at that time to a 150 nations, vaccines to 99 countries and two international organizations as well as masks, kits, gloves and ventilators- you name it. Equally important, India chose to do this when its own vaccine initiative was still unfolding. A large number of developing nations received Made in India vaccines either through our Vaccine Maitri initiative or other global programmes.”
He said that Indian medical teams also went out in the Indian Ocean Region to deal with pressing situations in some smaller countries. “But this was just not an exception made during the COVID era. In fact, it is part of our approach to the world both before and after. ”
The minister said that there was a sharper realization during the COVID period, of the utility and efficacy of traditional medicine to preventive healthcare recovery and wellness.
He said that India has the privilege to host the WHO global centre of traditional medicine, in Gujarat. ” As a government which created a department called AYUSH to promote these practices and treatments, we look forward to international cooperation this year as well.”
He said that India has promoted the International Day of Yoga, the Lifestyle for Environment initiative and more nutritious practices such as the consumption of millets.
Elaborating upon India’s outreach across geographies, Jaishankar said, ” Recently, we dispatched 66.5 tonnes of medical supplies to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A little before that, a consignment of 1,400 kilograms of anti cancer medicines were sent to strengthen the medical capabilities of hospitals in Syria. Even in Afghanistan, India has stepped forward with 300 tonnes of medicines in the last few years as well as the dispatch of specialists to a hospital that we had built in Kabul.”
He went on to enumerate examples of India’s outreach to Sri Lankan hospitals during the economic crisis in 2022, to Ukraine as the casualties and the conflicts spiked or to Myanmar when it was struck by typhoon Yagi.
India has also reached out to Cuba, Cambodia, Maldives and the Pacific islands.
“In this pursuit, Indian diplomacy has worked with partners -big and small, islands and land-locked, close and distant but united in their desire to ensure a better life for their citizens,” he said.
He also described in detail the Ayushman Bharat initiative which is today the world’s largest government health insurance scheme.
