India, along with the World Health Organisation (WHO), will launch the Global Initiative on Digital Health, which will aim to converge efforts and investments in the digital health space around the globe, the Union Health Ministry said on August 16.
According to the officials, the initiative on Digital Health, a first of its kind, was introduced at the first Health Working Group meeting held in January this year, after India took over the G20 presidency.
"Most of the work being done in the area of digital health is currently taking place in silos. There are different pilot projects launched, but they are hardly scaled further. This initiative will help the health sector’s technologies converge," said Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary, Union Health Ministry.
He further explained that the global initiative, to be launched on August 19, will help in converging digital health innovations and solutions to improve healthcare service delivery.
The initiative has also found funding from global partners, he added.
Agarwal said that the G20 summit is also working on bringing in the crucial interim medical countermeasures (MCMs), which is a ‘network of networks approach', before the next health emergency hits us, and India, in collaboration with WHO, is leading the advocacy.
"The global digital platform will include an investment tracker, an ask tracker (to understand who needs what kind of products and services), and a library of existing digital health platforms," he added.
The additional secretary further said that India has focused on affordability, accessibility, and usability as the main aspects of the health sector.
"The G20 co-branded event on Advantage Health Care India 2023 will focus on global collaborations and partnerships for building resilient healthcare systems," he added.
India assumed the presidency of the G20 on December 1 last year and is currently part of the G20 troika, which comprises Indonesia, India, and Brazil. India’s G20 Presidency marks the first time that the troika consists of three developing and emerging economies.
Agarwal said India will continue to utilise its G20 Presidency to voice the concerns of the global south.
Commenting on the concerns about citizens’ data and its security, Agarwal said India has always followed the policy of having data owned by the common people.
"This is not the practice that we find across the world. India has spoken to its partners about the India format, which has been endorsed by partners," he explained.
The global platform for data sharing will offer no data about its users but will share analyses and work at the inter-operational ability of data.
Agarwal said the G20 Health Minister’s meeting will focus on three key priorities: health emergency prevention, preparedness, and response with a focus on anti-microbial resistance and the One Health framework; Strengthening cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on access and availability to safe, effective, quality, and affordable medical countermeasures (vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics); and Digital Health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery.
The summit is also working to garner support for setting up a Climate and Health Initiative (CHI) in India in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the launch of a patient and healthcare workforce mobility portal.
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