Green Health Alliance (GHA) Launched in Association with USAID, Rockefeller Foundation, and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India

New Delhi [India], May 9 (ANI/NewsVoir): The Catalyst Group, in an innovative collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Rockefeller Foundation, today announced the launch of the Green Health Alliance (GHA) in New Delhi. The Alliance is set to focus on identifying and scaling up solutions to help reduce the carbon footprint of the health system and thereby minimise the negative health impacts of climate change.
As an action-oriented community of diverse stakeholders like Swasti, Vrutti, Fuzhio, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), The Skoll Foundation, the Green Health Alliance will integrate private and public sector expertise to build strong and resilient health ecosystems through affirmative climate action. The focus of GHA includes the identification of proven climate-neutral solutions and support these to scale across the health ecosystem; and developing a credible platform to convene, ideate, and scale innovative solutions at the intersection of health ecosystem and climate impact.
Speaking on the partnership, Shiv Kumar, Co-founder, Catalyst Group said, "Climate change is accelerating. We need to accelerate our efforts by collaborating effectively and achieving results for humanity by scaling solutions that work in sub-sectors that are contributing significantly to climate change. In the Catalyst Group, we believe in bringing the right partners together so we can achieve exponential and measurable results NOW; not sometime in the future."
Dr Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, said, "We are pleased to extend our support to Green Health Alliance through various possibilities of partnerships. To scale up such partnership efforts, the division of Strategic Alliances is developing a collaboration platform, 'Manthan' centred around SDGs and took innovative solutions to scale. We would encourage all GHA partners to utilise this platform after it goes live."
Celebrating the partnership, Sangita Patel, Director of USAID/India's Health Office, added, "Climate change is threatening the sustainability of health systems and development goals through pressures from rising heat, extreme weather events, droughts, shifts in duration and prevalence of diseases, and the increased potential for novel diseases. Through USAID's partnership with the Green Health Alliance, we will unite our respective efforts and mobilise swift action to adapt and transform, enabling partners to engage collaboratively and effectively in the face of climate and health challenges while building the resilience of our systems."
Deepali Khanna, Vice President, Asia, The Rockefeller Foundation, said, "Over the years, we have realised that we need to ensure that we make informed decisions and design and deliver solutions that improve the resilience of affected communities. Climate-oriented investments in developing countries need to address the range and urgency of implementation needs. When they fail to do so, it exposes the individuals to unpredictable risks, making it imperative to leverage data and technology. Catalysing technical and need-based assistance to partnering organisations is key, and we look forward to contributing to India's climate change revolution."
The launch recognised and celebrated the government's support, civil society, communities, and public and private sector partners, who have been instrumental in ideating, executing, and amplifying the initiatives to build a resilient nation.
The Catalyst Group is a social enterprise platform that seeks to promote the health and wealth of vulnerable communities. The group believes that transformation and scale are not possible without partnerships and collaborations. We connect the worlds of communities, practitioners, thinkers, and investors, as well as programs and policy, in order to scale and sustain action.
The Catalyst Group is formed by five organizations - Catalyst Management Services, a solution-focused activist - 'Solvists', working closely with partners, to incubate and invest resources, deep expertise and on-ground experience, shaping social equity, working across SDG goals; Swasti, the Health Catalyst designing and delivering support solutions for the health and wellbeing of the poor; Vrutti a center for sustainable livelihoods enhancing people's well-being through knowledge, innovation, and transformative actions; Fuzhio, an impact marketing product firm; and the GREEN Foundation which anchors the climate action practice in the Group.
The Group has set up many alliances and collaboratives, including #COVIDActionCollab, an all-India collaborative, united to provide relief, recovery, and build resilience among the most vulnerable communities through the COVID-19 pandemic.
USAID is the U.S. Government's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID works to help lift lives, build communities, and advance democracy. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity; demonstrates American generosity, and helps countries progress along their development journey. In India, USAID is collaborating with the country's growing human and financial resources through partnerships that catalyse innovation and entrepreneurship to solve critical local and global development challenges.
To learn more, please visit www.usaid.gov/india.
The Rockefeller Foundation is pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation to enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We work to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal. Our focus is on scaling renewable energy for all, stimulating economic mobility, and ensuring equitable access to health and nutritious food. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
The Cabinet Secretariat established the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India in November 1999. The Office of PSA aims to provide pragmatic, and objective advice to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on matters related to science, technology, and innovation with a focus on the application of science and technology in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with government departments, institutions, and industry. The Strategic Alliances Division of the Office of PSA, facilitates partnerships between Industry, Foundation, academia, startups, and MSMEs, through coalitions and consortia both national and international. Demand from the industries and foundations feeds into academia and the start-up ecosystem's strategy of developing innovative solutions to meet them through deliberations initiated by the division. The Industry-Academia collaborations have supported (a) joint R&D or contracted industry R&D; (b) establishment of Centres of Excellence (CoE) by industry in academia; and (c) finding innovative solutions for social development.
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