G20 Presidency apt opportunity to showcase India’s health innovations globally: Experts

New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) Public health professionals believe India’s G20 Presidency for the year 2023 is a great opportunity for the country to emerge as a healthcare leader and also propagate for traditional wellness practises at the international level.

The professionals from across the country came together on Friday at the strategic roundtable, organised by the health think tank IHW Council, and discussed about the need of mitigating the aftermaths of COVID-19 pandemic by building sustainable and resilient health infrastructures and to leverage on opportunities of using G20 chair to initiate discussions on holistic health at the global level.

Speaking on the occasion, former Union health secretary Lov Verma noted that the G20 Presidency should be utilised to showcase India’s pathbreaking health achievements, specifically on the use of technology during the pandemic.

The roundtable also witnessed deliberations on Global South Asia emerging as healthcare leaders and India providing the much-needed impetus for accelerating the process of thought leadership in healthcare.

Dr Sanjiv Kumar, member, Governing Board, National Institute of Health remarked,”The whole earth is one family as seen during the pandemic and this should be the message propagated in India’s presidency in 2023.”

He further emphasised that primary healthcare is the cornerstone of healthy nations and the platform of G20 should be used to bring focus on it.

The roundtable titled “Global Health Leadership Opportunities for India During G20” was attended by Dr Chandrakant Pandav, former professor and HoD of Centre for Community Medicines, AIIMS; Dr Ajay Khera, Country Representative, Engender Health; Dr Suresh Kumar, Director, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital; and Dr Nimesh Desai, senior psychiatrist and former director, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, among others.

Dr K Madan Gopal, senior consultant, Health, NITI Aayog said, “G20 is an opportunity to raise awareness on social determinants of health and we need to harness health infrastructures and regulations to ensure healthier populations.”

The speakers also pointed out that the theme of 2023 presidency “One Earth, One Family, One Future” should be used to strive for health equity while ensuring good health for the most vulnerable nations and population.

While taking part in the discussion, Kamal Narayan, CEO, IHW Council observed that India can give a collective call towards a new paradigm of “inclusive, accessible and comprehensive” health systems for accelerating and amplifying the discourse around global health, while leaving no one behind, in its presidency year.