G20 Summit: India and WHO to launch Global Initiative on Digital Health

India, along with the World Health Organisation (WHO), will launch the Global Initiative on Digital Health, which will aim to converge efforts and investments in the digital health space around the globe, the Union Health Ministry said on August 16.

According to the officials, the initiative on Digital Health, a first of its kind, was introduced at the first Health Working Group meeting held in January this year, after India took over the G20 presidency.

He further explained that the global initiative, to be launched on August 19, will help in converging digital health innovations and solutions to improve healthcare service delivery.

The initiative has also found funding from global partners, he added.

Agarwal said that the G20 summit is also working on bringing in the crucial interim medical countermeasures (MCMs), which is a ‘network of networks approach', before the next health emergency hits us, and India, in collaboration with WHO, is leading the advocacy.

India assumed the presidency of the G20 on December 1 last year and is currently part of the G20 troika, which comprises Indonesia, India, and Brazil.

India’s G20 Presidency marks the first time that the troika consists of three developing and emerging economies.

Agarwal said India will continue to utilise its G20 Presidency to voice the concerns of the global south.

Commenting on the concerns about citizens’ data and its security, Agarwal said India has always followed the policy of having data owned by the common people.

The summit is also working to garner support for setting up a Climate and Health Initiative (CHI) in India in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the launch of a patient and healthcare workforce mobility portal.