'Must Enable Equitable Access to Vaccines, Medicines': PM at Global COVID Summit

"We call for streamlining WHO's approval process for vaccines & therapeutics to keep supply chain stable," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Photo: Screenshot

The world must build a resilient global supply chain and enable equitable access to vaccines and medicines, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, 12 May, while speaking at the second Global COVID Virtual Summit, at the invitation of United States President Joe Biden.

"Last month, we laid the foundation of the WHO Centre for Traditional Medicine in India with an aim to make this age-old knowledge available to the world. It is clear that a coordinated global response is required to combat future health emergencies," PM Modi said.

"We must build a resilient global supply chain and enable equitable access to vaccines and medicines. WTO rules need to be more flexible. WHO must be reformed and strengthened to build a more resilient global health security architecture," he added.

"We also call for streamlining WHO's approval process for vaccines and therapeutics to keep the supply chain stable and predictable. As a responsible member of the global community, India is ready to play a key role in these efforts," he further said.

PM Modi delivered his remarks during the opening session of the summit on the theme "Preventing Pandemic Fatigue and Prioritising Preparedness".

The aim of the summit was to initiate new actions to address the continuing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and create a stronger global health security architecture, a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said.

'India Adopted a People-Centric Strategy Against the Pandemic': PM Modi

PM Modi also said that India adopted a people-centric strategy against the pandemic.

"The COVID pandemic continues to disrupt lives, supply chains and test the resilience of open societies. In India, we adopted a people-centric strategy against the pandemic," PM Modi said.

"We have made the highest-ever allocation to our annual healthcare budget. Our vaccination program is the largest in the world. We have fully vaccinated almost 90% of the alien population and more than 50 million children. India manufactures four WHO-approved vaccines & has the capacity to produce 5 billion doses this year," he added.

PM Modi said India supplied over 200 million doses to 98 countries bilaterally and through 'Covax'.

"India has developed low-cost Covid mitigation technologies for testing, treating and data management. We have offered these capabilities to other countries."

PM Modi said India's genomics consortium had contributed to the global database of the virus. "We will extend this network to our neighbouring countries. In India, we extensively use our traditional medicines to supplement our fight against Covid and to boost immunity saving countless lives."

More About the Summit

Other participants in the summit included United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, leaders of Indonesia, Germany, Belize and Senegal, among others.

PM Modi had also participated in the first Global COVID virtual Summit hosted by President Biden on 22 September last year.

"India is playing a key role in ongoing global efforts to combat the pandemic by supplying safe and affordable vaccines, medicines, development of low cost indigenous technologies to test and treat, genomic surveillance, and capacity building for health care workers," the MEA's release said.

It also added that India was proactively engaging in multilateral fora with the objective of strengthening and reforming the global health security architecture with the WHO at its centre.