Under the health vertical of the G-20, India has identified three priorities in order to create a more resilient, responsive and inclusive approach to building a better global healthcare system with special emphasis on “digital health.
The three priorities are Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness, and Response, Strengthening Cooperation in Pharmaceutical Sector with a focus on Access and Availability to safe, effective, quality, and Affordable Medical Countermeasures (vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics) and Digital Health Innovations and Solutions to Aid Universal Health Coverage and Improve Healthcare Service Delivery, officials said.
The G20 India’s Presidency Health Track will comprise four Health Working Group (HWG) meetings and one Health Ministerial Meeting (HMM).
India plans to host four side events on various topics along with HWG meetings to enrich, supplement and support G20 discussions. These include side events on Medical Value Travel and Digital Health. The meetings will be held in different locations across the country and this will help to highlight India’s rich and diverse cultures.
The first Health Working Group meeting is underway at Thiruvananthapuram and the three-day meet will conclude on Friday.
In 2018, the =World Health Organisation (WHO) adopted the Digital Health Resolution tabled by India. India has asserted that digital service delivery is the need of the hour in healthcare. ‘Digital Health’ can help to ensure accessibility, affordability, quality, and timely services supporting Universal Health Coverage (UHC). New digital discoveries have helped to accelerate progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), aiming for priorities, the officials said.
However, the challenge is to ensure global coordination, bringing together expertise, adopting a trusted framework, and promoting the culture of Global Public Digital Goods, along with allowing neutral data sharing across borders and G-20 is an ideal platform for galvanizing attention from all countries and stakeholders, they added.