Emergency response in focus at G20’s first health group meet

New Delhi, January 18

The first Health Working Group meeting under India’s G20 presidency got underway in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday with focus on best practices in digital public goods and need for robust future health emergencies preparedness in the first session.

The second session brainstormed on building strong frameworks for ensuring availability of safe, effective, quality and affordable medical countermeasures.

The first day of the meeting saw multiple brainstorming sessions with the inaugural focused on three key priorities of India’s health track — emergency response, digital goods and access to pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar and MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan delivered the keynote addresses.

“India’s pandemic policy must be a defining part of our overall health policy as any health crisis today leads to an economic crisis due to the multisectoral nature of our inter-connected world,” said Pawar.

Muraleedharan noted that Prime Minister’s clarion call for “One Earth, One Family, One Future” was the pro-planet approach, one that was in harmony with nature for an increasingly globalised world.

The keynote addresses were followed by opening remarks by the troika countries (Indonesia, India and Brazil).

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted the need for pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and convergence, pro-planet approach, continued focus on anti-microbial resistance, developing blueprint for vaccine therapeutics and diagnostics, harmonising a global network for countries, building consensus on digital health and mobilising fund for the same.