India supporting capacity building of healthcare workers: Mandaviya

NEW DELHI: The Covid pandemic has demonstrated that health threats are not confined to national borders and require a coordinated global response, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said.

In this context, India has been supporting by capacity building of healthcare workers, coupled with harnessing digital technology as the way forward, he said in his keynote address at a session on “Heal in India and Heal by India” at the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Tuesday.

With the vision of ''One Earth-One Health'' and to serve the global community, the government has taken initiatives for value-based healthcare supported by health workforce mobility and patient mobility, he said.

The ''Heal by India'' initiative is designed to increase health workforce mobility from India to different parts of the world to serve the world as per the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (The World is One Family), while the ''Heal in India'' initiative seeks to provide integrated and holistic treatment to the world in India and enhance patient mobility for access to world class, affordable and quality healthcare services.

Highlighting India's G20 Presidency philosophy of “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, the minister said India has prioritised health emergencies, prevention, preparedness and response with focus on ''One Health'' and Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR); strengthening cooperation within pharmaceutical sector globally to improve access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medical countermeasures, and digital health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery at grassroots level.

Emphasising on measures taken for strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in India, Mandaviya said, “India achieved an unimaginable pace of Covid vaccination and more than 2.20 billion doses have already been administered in India so far. Millions of vaccines were shared with the world through the 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative”.

In order to create a resilient health care ecosystem, India has launched the Ayushman Bharat initiative to cover all aspects of healthcare, he said.

The world's largest government funded health insurance scheme – Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM- JAY) - was launched in 2018. He said 1,50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are transforming the delivery of comprehensive primary health care services in India.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to bridge the gap amongst different stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem through usage of technology. The PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission aims to build disease surveillance system, laboratory networks, building of infectious disease blocks across the country and augmenting research capacity with emphasis on ''One Health approach,” he said.