India willing to supply Covishield and Covaxin to other countries: Mandaviya

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SME Times News Bureau | 25 Nov, 2021
India is willing to supply Covishield and Covaxin vaccines to all the countries, said Union Health Minister Mandaviya at a meeting with the ambassadors of Latin American and Caribbean nations on Thursday.

He said, "India is driven by the philosophy of 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' which has inspired us to gift COVID-19 vaccines, HCQs and other medical necessities to all our friends. Further, India is willing to supply Covishield and Covaxin to all the countries."

Mandaviya in his address underlined the need to strengthen the public health system to fight outbreaks in the future. He stated, "India has been able to fight COVID-19 under a 'whole of government' approach where provincial and local governance provided a fillip to the efforts of the Government of India".

Explaining India's strategy of curbing the pandemic, he said of the 6 vaccines approved in India, 2 are indigenously developed. Nearly 1.2 billion doses have been administered with 82% of Indians receiving at least one dose of the vaccine and 44% of Indians being fully vaccinated.

The Minister thanked the representatives of the countries for easing people to people contact by recognising india's vaccines. Vaccination in India is recognised by 110 countries at present. "Mutual recognition of vaccinations increases ease of travel for tourism and business thereby boosting economic recovery the world so desperately needs," he said.

Highlighting how India helped other countries throughout the pandemic, he said, "Being the Pharmacy of the World, India has generously supplied HCQ tablets and other medical equipment to 27 countries. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, 6.63 crore doses were sent to 95 countries."

Speaking on the possible areas of convergence, Mandaviya noted that more than 70 million teleconsultations have been recorded in eSanjeevani -- India's flagship telemedicine portal. He said that with India's expertise in Information Technology, India could quickly deploy the CoWIN platform for its vaccination programme. He added that India has already shared the technology with partner nations willing to adopt the technology and will help all nations looking to scale up their vaccination.

The Minister also focused attention on India's triumphant march towards Universal Health Care. The four pillars of Ayushman Bharat: envisioning 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres at the primary level, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana that provides insurance to targeted population categories, the Health Infrastructure Mission with an outlay of Rs 670 million that will strengthen India's public healthcare system along with diagnostic and surveillance capabilities, the Digital Mission which will provide all Indians with a unique health ID and make their medical history available to approved clinicians in seconds.

He said, "Under Prime Minister Modi, India's healthcare is witnessing a revolutionary transformation which can be adopted by her friends."

The Union Minister exhorted the assembled nations to study the possibility of an exchange programme for health professionals. Besides skill upgradation and exposure to specializations of health in the American continent for Indians, students of these countries would have high quality world-class medical practices in India in the fields of Cardiology, Oncology, Nephrology, Neurology, Ophthalmology. He also highlighted the possible areas of co-operation in medical tourism.

The event was officiated by Paraguay ambassador Fleming Duarte. Ambassador of Chile, Juan Angulo, Ambassador of Mexico, Federico Salas, Ambassador of Colombia, Mariana Pacheco offered their thoughts on behalf of the formation and thanked India for her valuable contribution in fighting the pandemic.