WHO Chief Dr Tedros Meets JP Nadda, Praises India’s Progress in Healthcare

Summary:
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised India’s healthcare progress during a meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda at the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia session in Dili, highlighting improvements in maternal and child health and efforts against non-communicable diseases. He highlighted the role of 160,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and ASHA workers in expanding community healthcare, while noting that higher immunisation coverage and institutional deliveries rising from 78% to 93% have supported declines in maternal and child mortality. The leaders also discussed tuberculosis elimination, medical-product regulation, traditional medicine and India’s support for the WHO. 

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia in Dili, Timor-Leste. During the meeting, Dr Tedros congratulated Nadda on India’s notable progress in healthcare, particularly in maternal and child health and efforts to address non-communicable diseases.

In a social media post, the WHO chief highlighted India’s network of one lakh sixty thousand Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, which is helping bring screening for hypertension, diabetes and common cancers closer to local communities while providing referral pathways for additional treatment. He also pointed to India’s ASHA workers as an important example of community-based healthcare, supporting women and children from pregnancy through adolescence.

Dr Tedros noted that expanded immunisation coverage and the rise in institutional deliveries from 78 per cent to 93 per cent have contributed to continued reductions in maternal and child mortality.

The two leaders also discussed India’s initiatives to eliminate tuberculosis, improve the regulation of medical products and strengthen support for the WHO. Their discussions also covered traditional medicine and ongoing negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system under the WHO Pandemic Agreement.