NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the future of a healthy world depends on inclusion, integrated vision and collaboration.
Addressing the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Modi said, “Inclusion is at the heart of India’s health reforms; Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health insurance scheme, covers 580 million people and provides free treatment in India.”
He announced that the scheme has recently been expanded to include all citizens above the age of 70.
Additionally, he said, India has established a vast network of Health and Wellness Centres that offer screening for major conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension.
“Thousands of public pharmacies across the country also provide high-quality medicines at prices significantly lower than market rates, increasing access to essential drugs for all,” he added.
Highlighting that the theme of the Assembly “One World for Health” resonates with India’s vision of global health, he stated that “the future of a healthy world depends on inclusion, integrated vision and collaboration.”
He emphasised that technology is an important catalyst to improve health outcomes and highlighted India’s achievements in this regard.
“We have a digital platform to track vaccination of pregnant women and children. Millions of people have a unique digital health identity. It is helping us integrate benefits, insurance, records and information,” he said.
He also added that “with telemedicine, nobody is too far from a doctor. Our free telemedicine service has enabled over 340 million consultations.”
He further pointed out that because of these initiatives, the out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of total health expenditure has fallen significantly, while government health expenditure has gone up considerably.
The prime minister underscored that the health of the world depends on how well we care about the most vulnerable, especially in the Global South who are particularly impacted by health challenges.
Noting that India's approach presents replicable, scalable and sustainable models, he offered to share India’s learnings and best practices with the world, especially the Global South.
Welcoming this year’s focus on “Yoga for One Earth, One Health,” he extended an invitation to all countries to actively participate in promoting yoga as a means to improve physical and mental well-being.
He gave a call for a shared commitment to fight future pandemics with greater cooperation. “While building a healthy planet, let us ensure that no one is left behind,” he added.