Arindum Soni – Director, SAARTHI IAS
The G20 declaration on health highlights India’s three key priorities and emphasizes the country’s commitment to promoting digital advancements in the healthcare sector. The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, released after summit, acknowledged all three health priorities of India’s G20 presidency.
“The Declaration”
The declaration emphasized the need to enhance primary healthcare, bolster the health workforce, and improve essential health services to surpass pre-pandemic standards, ideally within a timeframe of two to three years.
In addition to prioritizing epidemics such as tuberculosis and AIDS, the G20 acknowledged the significance of conducting research on the long-term effects of COVID-19, commonly referred to as long COVID.
The declaration additionally emphasized the significance of adopting a one health approach, which involves monitoring diseases in animals, plants, and humans through a unified mechanism. This approach specifically prioritizes efforts to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance.
The G20 health track, which concluded recently, successfully achieved consensus on all three of its priority areas. Additionally, it successfully initiated the establishment of a proposed repository for scalable digital health platforms.
The declaration’s priorities
Developing robust systems to mitigate, anticipate, and address health emergencies.
Enhancing collaboration within the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific emphasis on promoting fair distribution and accessibility of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics in times of a pandemic.
The development of a digital health platform, such as CoWIN and e-Sanjeevani, aims to facilitate the sharing of innovative solutions in the field of healthcare. This platform seeks to enhance and expand health coverage, thereby promoting improved access to healthcare services for all individuals.
The consensus was achieved through a series of compromises, wherein India did not assert the requirement for nations to contribute to a $200-million fund dedicated to a digital health program, nor did it advocate for the establishment of a permanent platform for the exchange of knowledge, intellectual property rights, and resources pertaining to the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
These individuals constitute approximately 85% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 75% of the aggregate international trade, and two-thirds of the worldwide population.
In addition to the member countries, the G20 annually extends invitations to guest countries and international organizations, including but not limited to the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to partake in its meetings.
The concept of an interim medical countermeasure platform refers to a temporary framework or system that is designed to address and mitigate the effects of a medical crisis or emergency.
Although there was a lack of agreement regarding the establishment of a permanent framework to ensure fair access to medical countermeasures during a pandemic, the committees reached a consensus to construct a temporary platform that would facilitate a comprehensive network for research and manufacturing of such countermeasures. This interim platform aims to serve as a precursor until a legally binding treaty addressing pandemics can be collectively ratified.
According to the outcome document, it was recommended that the interim platform be guided by a decision-making structure that promotes inclusivity, ensuring adequate representation of low- and middle-income nations. Additionally, it was proposed that the World Health Organization (WHO) be responsible for convening this platform.
While the G20 member countries have reached a general consensus regarding the necessity of establishing a platform, the timeline for its development remains uncertain.
The platform’s opposition
According to the delegates in attendance at the negotiation table, the impetus for the development of this interim platform has been driven by the G7 nations, which currently possess the majority of patents for pharmaceuticals, diagnostic tools, and vaccines.
Despite the explicit mention in the outcome document regarding the inclusion of lower- and middle-income countries in the platform, there are concerns that it may replicate the shortcomings observed in the ACT accelerator. This analogous platform was established to facilitate the sharing of medical countermeasures during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was criticized for granting greater influence to the G7 countries.
According to a senior delegate, the proposed initiative aims to emulate the accomplishments of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) program.
The individuals present during the negotiations conducted amidst the pandemic exhibit a lack of clarity regarding the proceedings.
Furthermore, given that Covid-19 is no longer classified as a public health emergency of international concern, the aforementioned agreements are no longer in effect. Consequently, economically disadvantaged nations are compelled to continue incurring elevated costs in order to sustain their vaccination efforts.
The utilization of the interim measure may potentially serve as a pretext for the G7 nations to further postpone the establishment of a legally enforceable treaty addressing the ongoing pandemic. Additionally, the topic of traditional medicine is relevant to this discussion.
The G20 presidency of India also advocated for the integration of evidence-based traditional medicine practices with modern medicine.
Last month, a global summit on traditional medicine was held concurrently with the health ministers’ meeting.
The recognition of the potential of evidence-based traditional and complementary medicine practices in public health delivery systems is contingent upon their rigorous and scientific validation.
In conclusion, the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration on health holds great importance as it aims to ensure the accessibility, affordability, and inclusivity of healthcare services for various nations, with a particular focus on developing and least developed countries.
However, it is imperative to consistently make efforts to establish a permanent platform that guarantees equitable access to medical facilities.
