Health Minister Mandaviya holds bilateral meetings with various countries at World Health Assembly

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held bilateral meetings with various countries at the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The meetings provided an opportunity to reflect on areas of collaborations and shared priorities in pursuit of a healthier tomorrow, the health ministry said in a statement.

Commending India's health priorities, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director General, World Health Organisation (WHO), praised the country's progress in its G20 presidency as well as its pursuit of advancing digital health and traditional medicine, the statement said.

Aligned with India's health goals, the deliberations with the United States Secretary of Health, Xavier Becerra, centred on collaboration in healthcare and pharma sectors as well as issues related to global health architecture, it added.

The Maldives delegation members conveyed their gratitude for India's vaccine support during the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed the desire to collaborate with the country in the areas of drone technology, research and innovation research, and health system strengthening.

Highlighting India's G20 presidency philosophy of "One Earth, One Family, One Future", Mandaviya said, "Jamaica lauded India's achievement in digital health, pharmaceuticals and health system strengthening, and agreed to sign an MoU to institutionalise collaboration in the healthcare sector."

Dr Hilal bin Ali bin Al Sabti, Minister of Health, Oman, vastly appreciated India's G20 health priorities and agreed to strengthen the collaboration in pharmaceuticals, digital health, communicable diseases and digital health, the statement said.

Mandaviya congratulated Nisia Trindade Lima, Minister of Health, Brazil, on the upcoming G20 presidency as well as agreeing to participate in future endeavours pertaining to health workforce capacity building, disease surveillance, tuberculosis eradication, AMR (anti-microbial resistance) and traditional medicine.

Mandaviya also held bilateral meetings with the health ministers of Bangladesh, Iran, Venezuela and Argentina, exploring areas of collaboration in fortifying healthcare systems and enhancing capacities for disease surveillance, eradication of tuberculosis, AMR and capacity building among other domains.