WHA: Nadda to push for changes in health perception

India is going to push for a major change in terms of the perception -- the way we should be looking at health. Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who will be presiding over the World Health Assembly (WHA) session at Geneva, will address the issue of modern life style becoming a major cause of life taking diseases.

The Union Health Minister is leading a high-level delegation to participate in the 68th session of the WHA, the top decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO), beginning Monday. Notably, India will again assume presidency of the WHA after a gap of 19 years. At the session which will conclude on May 27, India will be showcasing the role alternate system of medicine by organising an exhibition on Yoga, a first of its kind in the history of WHA.

“At the WHA, India will push for practice of integrated system of medicine apart from dependency on modern medicine science such as allopathic treatment. The minister will also address the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCD) at global level. The NCDs are becoming more fatal than communicable diseases as the reasons behind life taking NCDS are related to changes in life style,” a Health Ministry official told Millennium Post.

“Apart from this, the assembly is expected to deliberate on key issues of global interest including anti-microbial resistance, air pollution and global health emergency. preparedness and surveillance, global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, and research and development in neglected tropical diseases,” the official said.

Nadda on the sidelines of the WHA will also participate in a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings with health ministers of various countries including those of China, the Netherlands, Sweden, US, the UK, Russia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Brazil and others. “The Health Minister’s bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Bin will be very crucial in terms of supply of raw materials for several essential drugs. Given the fact that India is heavily dependent on China for import of active pharma ingredients, the outcome of the meeting will be play a very decisive role in better implementation of public health schemes,” a Health Ministry official said.

Even though, the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “cracking a whip” on foreign-funded NGOs, the Union Health Minister is also scheduled to meet several international NGOs working in the field of vaccination research and development. Nadda is also expected to meet GAVI Alliance CEO Seth Franklin Berkley over the issue of vaccination. Earlier, the Health Minister had sought the involvement of civil societies in improving the public health system.

“NGOs are not there to give sermons, they are there to do good work. They are there to participate and we will see that they do participate,” Nadda had said after releasing ‘swachchta’ guidelines for public health facilities.