“The management of the COVID-19 pandemic, and especially the recent Omicron surge, has strongly demonstrated to the world the power of strong political will, self-reliance through Atma Nirbharta, innovation powered by technology, shared goals and collaborative efforts through a “Whole of Government” and “Whole of Society” approach”, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.
The Minister was delivering the keynote address at a webinar, titled “India’s Public Health Response to manage COVID-19”, with NITI Aayog members and more than 200 NGOs and civil society organisations that had worked at the grassroots during the pandemic.
Omicron surge
The country’s strategies of public health response resulted in better management of the Omicron surge compared to many other countries. Emphasising the Indian philosophy of ‘ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and ‘ Shubh Laabh’, he said, “We have not only produced quality and affordable vaccines, we have also exported medicines to more than 150 countries on humanitarian grounds. The ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme of the government has been lauded globally,” he stated.
In a presentation, steps taken by the country demonstrating various timely public health measures were highlighted. At a time when many countries were reporting an increase in number of daily COVID-19 cases, India’s daily cases have reported a substantial decrease, combined with increased recovery rate, and high levels of vaccination, noted a release issued by the Health Ministry.
The timely measures, including test, track and treat approach with focused genome sequencing, containment through containment zones, community surveillance, protocols for home isolation and effective clinical treatment have in tandem contributed to India’s COVID-19 management, it said.
Succesful vaccination drive
At the meeting, the Minister said the country’s vaccination drive was a testament to India’s capabilities and power of the people without whom this journey, and this high level of vaccine coverage, would not have been possible.
“Despite the large population, combined with geographical and sociological diversities, India has set global standards of COVID-19 vaccination. One of the key achievements has been our capacity to deliver over 1.8 billion vaccine doses across a multitude of regions and terrains,” he observed.
Mr. Mandaviya highlighted the crucial role played by technology and how it was leveraged for increased accessibility of healthcare services during the pandemic through eSanjeevani, CoWIN portal for vaccination, Arogya Setu app, etc. Technological innovations have lent speed and efficiency to the country’s vaccination drive, he added.
