Embassy of India
Hanoi
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Press Release
India-Vietnam Joint Working Group Meeting on Health Cooperation
A Director General-level Joint Working Group (JWG) on Health Cooperation between the Ministries of Health of India and Vietnam was held virtually on 27 August 202. The meeting provided a valuable opportunity to both sides to share best practices and exchange views on many issues of common interest in healthcare domain, particularly in the context of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. These included areas such as digital health & pandemic management, pharmaceutical cooperation, cooperation in medical devices, promotion of traditional medicine and public health strategies.
The Indian side shared the experience of India’s National Digital Health Mission, particularly on prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic through a unified network of healthcare systems surveillance, contact tracing, logistics, laboratory testing, hospital preparedness, risk communication, capacity building and vaccine distribution. A presentation was made on India’s Co-WIN digital platform designed for COVID-19 vaccine delivery and India’s interest in sharing this platform with partner countries. In addition, the Indian side also shared experiences in developing COVID India Portal, Disease Surveillance Programme and Telemedicine for COVID-19 Management. As the Chair of “Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP)”, India invited Vietnam to join the GDHP, which is a multilateral platform on Digital Health Agenda with 33 member countries and two International Organization including WHO and OECD as partners.
On public health strategies on disease control, India shared its experiences in augmenting capacity in public health surveillance and outbreak response, and strengthening diagnostic capacity and laboratory network for emerging & re-emerging infections. Both sides also discussed ways to enhance use of technologies in prevention and control of diseases.
The two sides discussed ways to strengthen pharmaceutical cooperation as well as promotion of traditional medicine between the two countries. Indian delegation also briefed the Vietnamese side on the high-quality and cost-effective medical tourism industry of India and its potential to meet the healthcare needs of the people of Vietnam.
As an institutionalised dialogue mechanism between the Health Ministries of India and Vietnam, the Joint Working Group was constituted under the Memorandum of Understanding in Health Cooperation signed between the two countries in September 2016.
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Hanoi
01 September 2021
