India wants to ensure that everyone has fair access to healthcare as part of its current G20 presidency. India is also placing a lot of emphasis on a healthcare system that is value-based.
With the G20 presidency, we have the opportunity to create multilateral collaborations between countries facilitated by knowledge sharing and leading to the formulation of effective policies aiding accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare to citizens across the world,” India’s Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said recently.
The epidemic has highlighted significant health-related issues and their negative long-term effects.
The recent health risks have made it crucial to have equitable access to high-quality, reasonably priced, and manageable health care for everyone, without distinction.
Here, the inaugural meeting of the Health Working Group held under India’s G20 Presidency was very successful in tackling the systemic weaknesses and inequalities while also promoting holistic and universal health and wellness.
In particular, when the situation in low- and middle-income countries is concerning due to a constrained and uneven health care system, the meeting received a lot of positive feedback on health priorities like emergencies, prevention, preparedness, strengthening cooperation, and digital health innovation and solutions.
In an interconnected world, understanding that the pandemic policy must be an integral part of our health policy is now becoming crucial to our preparedness and response efforts. This is because any health crisis today causes a massive economic crisis tomorrow.
The budget for 2023 also includes a number of steps to address upcoming health challenges. It is proposed to build 157 new nursing colleges alongside the 157 medical colleges that have already been operational since 2014.
The universal screening of seven crore persons in the age range of 0-40 would be part of a plan to eradicate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
According to News on AIR, certain ICMR Labs will make facilities available for medical research by public and private medical college faculty members and private sector R&D teams, promoting joint research and innovation.
Pawar stated that India aims to speed up efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage and speed up the implementation of value-based healthcare.
She also emphasised the significance of medical value travel, adding that “traditional medicine continues to be a first port of call and an important resource for individuals.” Traditional medicine has played a significant role in improving health in communities all over the world for ages.
According to her, traditional medicine is gaining acceptance on a global scale as a powerful tool for managing pain and shows great potential in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Via centres of excellence, a new initiative to encourage pharmaceutical research and innovation have also been developed. The government also intends to persuade the pharmaceutical business to spend money on key areas for research and development.
The Center’s emphasis on integrating the Ayush system with the National Health ecosystem was further heightened by the budget. As a result, the overall budget for the Ayush Ministry has increased by 20% to Rs 3,647 crore. Additionally, there is a focus on encouraging evidence-based research in Ayush systems through Ayush research councils.
The foundation and framework of a global health architecture, aiming to equip nations with strong healthcare systems to face the next health emergency, appear to be taking shape as the G20 health meeting and budget 2023, which both place a strong emphasis on expanding health services, take place almost simultaneously.