'Pandemic policy must be a defining part of our health policy': MoS Bharati Pravin Pawar at Working Group meeting in Kerala

The First Health Working Group Meeting under India's G20 presidency was held on Wednesday at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Attended by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar and Union Minister of State for External Affairs, S V Muraleedharan. Indonesia and Brazil also participated.

The first out of the four Health Working Group Meetings under India's G20 presidency was held on Wednesday at Thiruvananthapuram, according to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release. The event was attended by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar and Union Minister of State for External Affairs, S V Muraleedharan, it said.

"Pandemic Policy must be a defining part of our Health Policy as any health crisis today leads to an economic crisis due to the multisectoral nature of our inter-connected world. Learnings from the pandemic must form the agenda for our preparedness and response together. We need to diversify our capabilities and ensure that collectively, we preserve ourselves in the face of any health crisis", Pawar said at the event. The Health Track of the G20 India Presidency comprises Health Working Group (JWG) meetings and one Health Ministerial Meeting (HMM). The other three meetings will be held in Goa, Hyderabad (Telangana) and Gandhinagar (Gujarat), highlighting India's rich and diverse cultures.

Pawar, in her address related to the Pandemic preparedness also noted that preparedness and response require "diverse multi-sectoral, multi-agency coordinated efforts." She also stressed that there is a need to strengthen and empower communities so that they become resilient for future health emergencies.

She also noted that "COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic. The learnings must form the agenda for our preparedness and response together. We need to diversify our capabilities and ensure that collectively, we preserve ourselves in the face of any health crisis". She also emphasized that it is important to build a resilient health system and invest in lifesaving vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

In the same event, Muraleedharan noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for "One Earth, One Family, One Future" is a pro-planet approach, one that is in harmony with nature for an increasingly globalized world, according to the same PIB press release. He further stressed that the delegates "need to align our agenda for preparedness and response together to be able to effectively meet any health emergencies". The country should be prepared to collectively meet any health challenges in the future, he stated.

Further, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted India's aim to achieve convergence in discussions across various multilateral fora engaged in health cooperation, as chair of the G20 Presidency. Indonesia's and Brazil's Troika members of the G20 appreciated India's presidency for setting up the three health priorities. They stated that the pandemic has given an opportunity to strengthen health systems and the need today is to "accelerate our efforts to ensure universal health coverage." (ANI)

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