New Delhi, Jan 11 (ANI): Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said the BRICS platform will contribute in the global effort towards strengthening health systems particularly in the public sector through specific actionable plans of collaboration.
Addressing the BRICS health ministers' meeting here, Azad said: "BRICS countries represent about 43 percent of the world's population. Our joining hands will give a collective expression to global public health aspirations and this platform will lead to better health not only for our peoples, but also for the world at large."
"During BRICS health ministers meeting in Beijing in July 2011, we had made a commitment to collaborate to advance access to public health services and deliver more cost-effective, equitable and sustainable solutions for common health challenges," he said.
"Consistent with our commitment as well as the mandate of the Fourth BRICS Summit, voiced in the "Delhi Declaration" adopted on March 29, 2012, the representatives of the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met on the sidelines of 65th World Health Assembly at Geneva on 22 May, 2012 and decided to identify specific areas of work and a collaborative action plan under the BRICS health platform for each country. Although we have been able to make significant progress in providing better health facilities to our peoples, we recognize that much more still needs to be done," he added.
Asserting that the successful implementation of the HIV/AIDS programme by India has earned global appreciation, Azad said: " The new evidence, from the latest round of HIV estimations, corroborates the fact that there is consistent decline in HIV prevalence, new infections as well as deaths due to AIDS-related causes in India. The reduction in annual new HIV infections by around 57 percent over the last decade signifies progress towards halting and reversing the epidemic."
"Keeping in view the rapidly increasing burden of NCDs across the globe, we took early steps by launching mass screening for early detection of Non Communicable Diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension and Cancer. With a substantial increase in the budget outlay for health, we propose to take several new initiatives to consolidate our gains and to fill up the gaps in critical areas of health-care, research, human resources and infrastructure, over the next 5 years," he said.
"The special session of the UN General Assembly, held in September, 2011, recognised the escalating threat posed by NCDs to the continued economic development of low and middle income countries and also their being a major barrier to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals relating to poverty reduction, maternal and child health, control of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We must, therefore, learn from each other and commit to fight NCDs together on the BRICS platform, through innovative strategies," he added. (ANI)
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