New Delhi, 18 August : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India is on track to eliminate tuberculosis (TB), much ahead of the global target of 2030.
The Prime Minister said these things while addressing the meeting of G-20 Health Ministers held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, through a video message. Highlighting the importance of public participation as a key factor in the success of health initiatives, the Prime Minister said that this is one of the main reasons for the success of our leprosy eradication campaign. He said that our ambitious programme on TB eradication also encourages public participation. He said that we have called upon the people of the country to become ‘Ni-Kshaya Mitras’ or ‘Friends for TB Eradication’, under which around 1 million patients have been adopted by the citizens. Now, we are on track to achieve TB elimination, much ahead of the global target of 2030, said the Prime Minister.
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi, the Prime Minister said that Gandhiji considered health to be such an important issue that he wrote a book on the subject titled The Key to Health. He said that being healthy means having one’s mind and body in a state of harmony and balance, which means that health is the basis of life.
The Prime Minister referred to the Sanskrit verse Aarogyam Param Bhagyam, Swasthyam Sarvartha Sadhanam, which means, ‘Health is the ultimate wealth, and everything can be accomplished with good health’.
The Prime Minister underlined that the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that health must be at the centre of our decisions. He said that time has also shown us the value of international cooperation, be it in medicine and vaccine distribution or in getting our people back home.
Highlighting the Government of India’s initiative to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to the world, the Prime Minister said that under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India distributed 300 million vaccine doses to over 100 countries, including several countries in the Global South.
Describing resilience as one of the biggest lessons learned during the pandemic, the Prime Minister said that global health systems must be resilient. We must be prepared to prevent, prepare, and respond to the next health emergency. He said that collaboration is especially important in today’s interconnected world, as we saw during the pandemic that health problems in one part of the world can affect all other parts of the world in a very short time.
The Prime Minister said that in India, we are following a holistic and inclusive approach. He said that we are expanding health infrastructure, promoting traditional systems of medicine, and providing affordable healthcare to all.
The Prime Minister said that we believe that holistic health and wellness can help increase everyone’s resilience. The establishment of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat, is an important step in this direction. The convening of the WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine along with the G-20 Health Ministers’ meeting will accelerate efforts to harness its potential.
Underscoring that health and the environment are interlinked, the Prime Minister said that clean air, safe drinking water, adequate nutrition, and safe shelter are the key factors in health. He said that the steps taken to tackle the menace of anti-microbial resistance (AMR) are also commendable.
The Prime Minister said that AMR is a serious threat to global public health and all the pharmaceutical advances made so far.
Emphasising the role of digital solutions and innovations in making healthcare accessible to all, the Prime Minister said that these are useful tools to make our efforts equitable and inclusive, as patients from remote areas can access quality healthcare through telemedicine and receive care. He lauded India’s national platform, e-Sanjeevani, saying that it has facilitated 140 million tele-health consultations so far.
The Prime Minister said that India’s Covin platform successfully conducted the largest vaccination drive in human history. He added that it managed the delivery of over 2.2 billion vaccine doses and the real-time availability of globally verifiable vaccination certificates. The Global Initiative on Digital Health will bring together various digital health initiatives on a common platform.
The Prime Minister called upon us to open up our innovations for the public good. Let us avoid duplication of funding. Let us facilitate equal access to technology. This initiative will allow countries in the Global South to narrow the gap in health care delivery and take us one step closer to our goal of achieving universal health coverage, he added.
