India has assumed the presidency of the G20 for 2023 and will host the group’s annual summit this year at a turning point in history.
As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will test the country’s health provisions and especially in terms of preparedness. It also coincides with this Diamond Jubilee year, which marks 75 years of Indian independence.
Healthcare is one of India’s key priorities during its presidency of the G20, especially in the aftermath of the global health crisis. Addressing a recent meeting of health workers, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stressed that an inclusive, responsive and adaptive framework is needed to effectively manage health emergencies. Therefore, under the supervision of the country’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, multiple stakeholders including policymakers, healthcare experts and leading organizations will work to create a framework to achieve this, which can be adapted by the G20 to its needs .
India’s large population and availability of a large number of skilled health experts, and affordable health infrastructure, give it the leverage it needs to develop and implement health-related innovations, guidelines and frameworks, as it approaches its year-long presidency. leads the G20, which it inherited from Indonesia and will move to Brazil at the end of the year.
So India has had a whole year to show its strength in various sectors with healthcare, environment, sustainability and digital innovations ranking high on the list.
Last year, India won praise from international sources, including Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, for its massive COVID-19 vaccination drive. In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proudly tweeted that the number of vaccinations and booster shots in the country had crossed 2 billion, despite challenges posed by fake news and propaganda, which falsely questioned the benefits of vaccination among the general public Was.
The country not only tops global markets in vaccine manufacturing and distribution, but also in the variety of domestically and internationally produced vaccines offered to the Indian people, including Covishield, Covaxin, BioNTech/Pfizer and Sputnik V.
India’s health experts have repeatedly predicted that the country will become the world’s pharmacy by 2030, and India’s G20 presidency places the pharma industry at the top of the country’s healthcare priorities. This implies that India’s strong pharmaceutical sector, which already meets a large portion of the world’s needs, will further develop its collaboration with various stakeholders in the global pharma industry to ensure that medicines are not wasted. are not only safe and effective but also affordable.
In a recent statement published by India’s leading newspapers, Modi said that India’s G20 presidency will be unique and unique in the sense that it will demand a fundamental change in mindset. He stressed that “the biggest challenges we face – climate change, terrorism and pandemics – can be solved by working together, not fighting each other.”
This requires coordination first among G20 member states, and then through hierarchical chains of command from policy makers to front-line workers.
In 2020, when Saudi Arabia took over the presidency of the G20, it focused on digital efforts to combat the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with 17 countries and using expertise provided by international organizations such as the World Health Organisation. Established a Digital Health Task Force to focus on , the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the Global Digital Health Partnership, among others. The idea was to develop an effective framework for digital health interventions.
During its G20 presidency, India will focus on a shift from a “data-driven” approach to a “data-first” approach, thus helping countries better plan and prepare for health emergencies such as COVID-19. As Modi said, “data for growth” will be India’s focus during its first G20 presidency.
With the increasing availability of affordable, fast internet connectivity, artificial intelligence-assisted robotic devices that offer the country’s top healthcare institutions the possibility of conducting surgeries remotely, and high levels of digital activity among most young people, regardless Irrespective of social demographic, India is moving into the era of digital healthcare.
Technology has served as a great enabler for healthcare, especially during the pandemic, when online or remote consultations became the primary means of communication with a doctor for many. This practice has catalysed and is being used by the government to digitally provide “last-mile connectivity” to healthcare infrastructure.
If India can build on this framework, focusing on the digital economy, innovation and digital transformation, it will provide an exemplary healthcare success story for the world, based on data collected from over a billion people. Based on research and supported by findings. , and serve as a didactic model for other G20 member states and the wider world.
With nearly 200 meetings scheduled in over 50 cities across 32 action streams in the run-up to the 2023 G20 summit, which will be hosted by New Delhi at the end of the year, India plans to leave no stone unturned in its quest. Live up to its presidency’s motto – “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, which translates as “One Earth, One Family, One Future” – and show it is ready to lead.
The G20 chairmanship is an opportunity for India to show this to the world.
- Syed Khalid Shahbaz is a journalist based in Hyderabad.