“We are working towards augmenting health infrastructure and have initiated multiple schemes to strengthen health systems and improve health service delivery with a focus on quality, accessibility, and affordability of healthcare services.”

This was stated by Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya at the Health & Healthcare Community Dinner organised by World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The minister is representing India at WEF’s health meet.

Dr. Mandaviya reiterated India’s vision of according the topmost priority to healthcare as “seva” (service). “Be it launch of world’s biggest government-funded health assurance scheme, PM Jan Aarogya Yojana covering approximately 500 million people or the establishment of 150,000 Health & Wellness Centres, we have put the vision of Antyodaya, that is, ‘Rise of the last person’ into action in healthcare and a key facet of ensuring Universal Health Coverage” he added.

Lauding the country’s contribution to the pharmaceutical sector, Dr. Mandaviya said, “India has the highest number of USFDA manufacturing plants outside the US, besides being a world leader in generic medicines.”

He said India has “emerged as a hub for R&D activities and is one of the leading destinations for high-end diagnostic services. To create an enabling framework for providing health services to the world at large, the government is institutionalizing medical tourism through a soon-to-be-launched Heal in India initiative”.

Dr. Mandaviya invited all stakeholders to look at India as a land of opportunities and take advantage of the same by partnering with India. This endeavor would lead toward making India and the world a healthier place, he said.

The minister is currently attending key multiple sessions in the ongoing World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos at Congress Centre. In the series of such sessions, he participated in a bilateral meeting with the Federal Minister of Health of Germany Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach where he lauded the cooperation shown by German counterparts and was hopeful of continuing and strengthening this cooperation in the future as well.

Participants in the discussions included Federal Minister of Health of Germany Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach, Zambian Minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokotwane, Angola’s Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa, Telangana’s Minster of Information Technology K T Rama Rao, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Chief Executive Officer of Serum Institute of India Adar C Poonawalla, among others.