The Government of India, in association with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), is hosting a two-day international conference on December 12 and 13, 2018.

The Partners’ Forum 2018 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 12 at New Delhi.

The conference has brought together about 1500 participants from across 85 countries with an aim to improve the health and well-being of women, children, and adolescents.

At the inauguration PM Narendra Modi said, “It is only partnerships that will get us to our goals. Partnerships between citizens, Partnerships between communities, Partnerships between countries. The Sustainable Development agenda is a reflection of this.”

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda, while addressing the Ministerial Conclave at PMNCH Partners’ Forum conveyed gratitude to the visiting dignitaries and participants for making the inaugural session a huge success. “We have gathered here with a sense of purpose, not only to celebrate what we have achieved so far, but also to discuss and learn what more do we need to do in our quest to improve the lives of our fellow countrywomen and men, children, and adolescents,” he said.

Touching upon the issue of investing in health sector he said that spending funds for the purpose makes a lot of sense. “Studies have shown that investments in the health and nutrition of women, children, and adolescents’ health yield a 10-fold return through better educational attainment, workforce participation, and social contributions. It is also noted that investments in early childhood and adolescent health can yield at least 100 billion USD in demographic dividends, across the globe,” said Nadda.

The Health Minister expressed hope that all the participating nations are already committed and convinced of the necessity and requirement of investments in health. “The global strategy for women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health is one valuable resource that provides us with a roadmap to end preventable maternal, newborn, child, and adolescents’ deaths and helping them thrive and attain their fullest potential.

“We understand a written and organised strategy is the paramount commitment for alignment, driving results, and monitoring implementation and therefore we have developed an India adaptation of the global strategy. We are going to follow this up with a well-defined and structured operational framework which is a work in progress. I also take this opportunity to promise that we in India are committed to make Universal Health Coverage a reality through our ambitious Ayushman Bharat Yojana,” added Nadda.

Winding up his address Nadda said, “All of us know that as we get nearer to our destination, the climb gets steeper. Our intention today is that as we sit together, we come forward with our specific commitments to drive progress in our respective countries.  We would like to hear from you about these aspects.”

This is the fourth in a series of global high-level multi-country, multi-stakeholder events aimed at sustaining global momentum for issues related to the health of women, children, and adolescents.

The previous chapters were held in Johannesburg, South Africa (2014), New Delhi, India (2010), and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (2007). This is the second time India is hosting the Partners’ Forum.