Union Health Secretary meets Global Fund officials, appreciates support for elimination of three diseases in India
May 29, 2024
Geneva [Switzerland], May 29 : Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra held a bilateral meeting with Global Fund officials on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly of WHO in Geneva on Wednesday. Chandra appreciated the Global Fund's continued support for the elimination of three diseases in India - TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria.
During the meeting, Chandra urged the Global Fund to continue its support to the TB program to strength the capacities of the public health systems, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press release.
In a press release, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated, "The Union Health Secretary acknowledged and appreciated the Global Fund's continued support towards the elimination of three diseases in India, namely, TB, HIV/AIDS and malaria. He highlighted that most of the investment is in capacity building, technical support and lab system strengthening of the program which lead to better sustainability."
During the meeting, the Global Fund appreciated India's commitment to eliminate TB by creating mass awareness, addressing stigma and intensive monitoring programmes using digital technologies. It noted that Indian innovative practices in TB program such as Truenat machines, hand held X-ray devices which can work in robust environments, are ideal for the world to emulate, according to the press release.
Hekali Zhimomi, Additional Secretary, Union Health Ministry, India's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi and senior officials of the Union Health Ministry attended the meeting.
Earlier, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra outlined India's advancements in digital health. He highlighted India's success in implementing digital public infrastructure at scale like Aadhaar for digital identities, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for financial transactions and effective health service delivery with CoWIN during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made the remarks during the side event on Digital Health organised by QUAD nations (India, Australia, US and Japan) on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly.
In his address, Apurva Chandra emphasised the transformative role of digital health in ensuring equitable and accessible healthcare services, contributing to universal health coverage, and achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, that is good health and well being.
Union Health Secretary said that COWIN is being transformed into UWIN for the National Immunization Programme. It will help in linking and providing immunization record of 30 million newborns and mothers every year followed by Anganwadi and school health record, according to Ministry of Health and Family press release.
The event witnessed participation of delegates from over 100 countries highlighting collaborative efforts in advancing digital public infrastructure globally.
