Dubai: Leading unicorn initiators, technology disrupters, investors, industry leaders, diplomats and technocrats from the Indian diaspora in the UAE converged at the opening of day of the India Global Forum in Dubai on Monday.
Addressing the forum, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, the Indian minister of health and family welfare, and chemicals and fertilisers, spoke about the tremendous growth story of India in the healthcare sector and invited investors to participate in the country’s healthcare ecosystem.
The minister highlighted how India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat policy focused on an affordable, cohesive and equitable system of universal health coverage for all. He also discussed how India’s Ayushman Bharat scheme has created over 1.5 million health and wellness centres, providing comprehensive primary, preventive, rehabilitative and diagnostic care across the country.
In addition to this, India has created a seamless digital platform where it has conducted 80 million telemedicine consultations during the COVID-19 lockdown, the minister added.
He also stressed on India’s commitment to strengthening its primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare sectors.
During the pandemic, India did not look at medicine and healthcare for global profits. It worked hard towards sharing data and research on the pandemic and manufactured medicines and vaccine doses for world, Dr. Mandaviya said.
Earlier in the day, Dr Mandaviya visited the Indian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, where he invited investors to participate in Indina’s exponentially growing health story and strengthen the Make-in-India initiative.
“Investors have tremendous opportunities in India because it is a strong democratic country. Ease of doing business is a big facilitator, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pace of development has increased. The middle class is expanding, and consumption power is rising.”
On India’s fightback against COVID-19, the Indian minister said: “India is a world leader in manufacturing vaccines. Two Indian companies have not only done the R&D but also manufacturing of the vaccines in the country. Our vaccine manufacturing capacity is 310 million doses per month and 86 per cent of the Indian population has got the first dose of the vaccine, while 55 per cent of the population above 18 years of age have got the second dose. This is India’s strength.”
He added that the 310 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by India per month would not only meet indigenous needs but also meet the global vaccine needs to a great extent.
