Pandemic taught us that nobody is safe until everyone is safe: Union minister Bharati Pawar at G20 meet

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Bharati Pawar said here on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic taught people that no one is safe until everyone is safe. The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare also said that India's G20 Presidency has revolved around the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' — the world is one family.

She was addressing the G20 Deputies' Meeting that commenced here on Thursday ahead of the G20 Health Ministers' Meeting starting Friday. «India's G20 Presidency has revolved around the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' — the world is one family.

Nowhere is this more important than in the field of global health as the pandemic taught us that no one is safe until everyone is safe,» an official release quoted her saying in her inaugural address. Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog, was also present at the meeting that is underway at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre in Gandhinagar as part of India's G20 presidency.

Union minister Pawar underlined the crucial deliberations that have been taking place in the Health Working Groups of India's G20 Presidency. Noting that the first priority addressing Health Emergencies Prevention Preparedness and Response (HEPPR) has been a core priority in every G20 Health Working Group since inception, she said, «The Indian G20 Presidency has put special focus on the critical threats of One Health, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and climate change.» «The second priority on addressing the need to ensure equitable access to affordable medical countermeasures highlights the need to establish a global MCM (medical countermeasures) coordination platform that envisions the establishment of research and development, and manufacturing networks across the globe,» she said.