The G20 Health Ministers’ meeting under G20 India Presidency will be held from 17-19 August at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

India assumed the presidency of the G20 on 1 December 2022 and is currently part of the G20 Troika comprising Indonesia, India and Brazil. India’s G20 Presidency marked the first time that the troika consisted of three developing and emerging economies.

The focus of the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting will be on the three key priorities of the G20 Health Track, including health emergencies prevention, preparedness and response with a focus on antimicrobial resistance and 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.

Besides the G20 Deputies Meeting on 17 August and G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting on 18-19 August, there will be four side events including One Earth One Health Advantage Health Care – India 2023; WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit; India MedTech Expo 2023; and ‘Sustain, Accelerate and Innovate to End TB in South-East Asia Region’ Conference.

A Joint Finance-Health Ministers’ Meeting will also be held on 19 August as a focus event of the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting. There will also be combined sessions of G20 and side events during the course of the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting, Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said at a media briefing today.

“The G20 is a unique opportunity to showcase India’s leadership in the field of traditional medicine. In the last 9 years, India has developed 8 folds in the field of traditional medicine. By the end of the year, more than 12,500 Ayush-based Health & wellness centers will be functional across the nation, out of which 8,500 are already in place,” Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, AYUSH, said.

He highlighted that the Global Centre on Traditional Medicines in Jamnagar, Gujarat, established by the WHO, is the first such centre in a developing country. He also informed that the WHO will convene the Traditional Medicine Global Summit, co-hosted by the Ministry of AYUSH, on 17-18 August in Gandhinagar which will explore the role of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in addressing pressing health challenges and driving progress in global health and sustainable development.

The side event on Medical Value Travel, Advantage Health Care India 2023 is a G20 co-branded event which will focus on global collaborations and partnerships for building resilient healthcare systems. This is the biggest government funded event for Medical Value Travel across the globe.