India holds the G20 Presidency this year and has prioritised healthcare as one of the key agendas. India wishes to use this opportunity to make its own health systems equitable and accessible to the population through various policies and initiatives.
India established a Health Working Group as well as an Inter-ministerial Health and Finance Working Group meeting under G20. It addressed the vulnerabilities and disparities of the systems, besides advocating for holistic and universal health and well-being. The meeting widely resonated on health priorities like emergencies, prevention, preparedness, strengthening, cooperation and digital health innovation and solutions, especially when the situation in low and middle-income countries is challenging owing to a restricted and uneven health care system.
To meet future health challenges, the budget 2023 has also announced a lot of measures. Establishing more institutions to increase healthcare providers is one of them. The country is also pouring resources into medical research on communicable and non-communicable diseases, and accelerating efforts towards increasing the pace pf implementation of value-based healthcare and achieving the goal of universal health coverage. A new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals has also been planned through centres of excellence.
The budget also increased the Centre’s emphasis on integrating the health databases for effective action-oriented policy, focusing on expanding health services. the G20 health meeting seeks to share learnings and prepare member countries to build a robust health system resilient to shocks like the Pandemic.
