Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday that India intends to further strengthen the drug regulatory system in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure quick access to high-quality medical products for all.

The health secretary made the statement while addressing the Plenary Session of the 77th World Health Assembly of the WHO in Geneva highlighting India’s contribution to 60 per cent of the global output of vaccine supply.

He said the country has a highly-trained and experienced workforce in the health sector to bring compassionate care to improve treatment outcomes not just in the country but across the world by emerging as one of the key destinations for medical value tourism.

Apurva Chandra informed the assembly about the recently issued new visa regime – Ayush – visa for medical tourism in India under the Ayush systems of medicine.

Citing the WHO SPAR report, Chandra said India has a core capacity score of 86 per cent to detect, assess, report, and respond to any health emergencies, which exceeds the Southeast Asia Region and global average.

“Showing a significant drop in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in past decades, India is on track to attain the SDG targets. Today, India is on the verge of eliminating Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) disease and has also reduced the TB incidence and mortality,” he pointed out.

The health secretary further said, “India is constructively engaged in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) and International Health Regulations (IHR) processes to build consensus and pave the way for a framework of global health architecture that will enable us to collectively prepare and respond to future pandemics and public health emergencies”.

Referring to Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), he said, “It is the world’s largest health assurance scheme providing over 343 million beneficiaries a health cover of $6000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization, reducing the out-of-pocket expenditure.”

With the digital initiatives in healthcare, Chandra said India has emerged as a lighthouse country in digital public goods for global collaborations.

He also urged all member countries to collectively commit to the promotion of health and well-being as a cornerstone of sustainable development.