The WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023
Dr Harsh Vardhan launches WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023
9 October 2019 : The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan releases ‘The WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023: A Time of Transition’ today. The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS), provides a strategic roadmap for WHO to work with the Government of India (GoI) towards achieving its health sector goals, improving the health of its population and bringing in transformative changes in the health sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulated both the ministry officials and WHO team, who developed the document. Amongst the dignitaries present at the launch were Ms Preeti Sudan, Secretary, MoHFW; Prof Balram Bhargava, Secretary-Department of Health Research and DG-Indian Council of Medical Research; Mr Alok Kumar, Director, NITI Aayog; Dr Roderico Ofrin, Regional Emergency Director and Acting Director Programme Management, WHO–SEARO; Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India; Mr Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, MoHFW; Ms Payden, Deputy WHO Representative to India and heads of other UN agencies.
The India CCS is one of the first that fully aligns itself with the newly adopted WHO 13th General Programme of Work and its 'triple billion' targets, the Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO South-East Asia Region’s eight Flagship Priorities. The CCS also captures the work of the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework for 2018–2022.
The CCS outlines how WHO can support the MoHFW and allied Ministries to drive impact at the country level. The CCS builds on other key strategic policy documents including India’s National Health Policy 2017, the many pathbreaking initiatives India has introduced — from Ayushman Bharat to its National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme and promotion of digital health amongst others.
This CCS not only builds upon the work that WHO has been supporting out in the last several years, but also expands to address complex challenges–such as the prevention of NCDs, the control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the reduction of air pollution, and the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses — WHO will further expand its collaboration with a broader set of government sectors and other stakeholders beyond health, under the overall guidance of the MoHFW, as well as continue to work collaboratively with other United Nations (UN) agencies and international partners.
WHO’s technical support to the Government of India will fall under the following four strategic priorities to contribute India’s health agenda:
Strategic Priority 1: Accelerate progress on UHC
- Implementing Ayushman Bharat: Health and Wellness Centres and hospital insurance scheme
- Monitoring and evaluation of health sector performance
- Improving access to priority health services such as immunizations, maternal and child health, tuberculosis, hepatitis
- Digital health ecosystem
- Eliminating neglected tropical diseases and control of vaccine-preventable and vector-borne diseases
Strategic Priority 2: Promote health and wellness by addressing determinants of health
- Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) action plan roll-out
- Environmental health, including air pollution
- Mental health promotion and suicide prevention
- Nutrition and food safety
- Road safety
- Tobacco control
- Integration of NCD and environmental risk factors in the digital health information platform
Strategic Priority 3: Better protect the population against health emergencies
- Disease surveillance and outbreak detection and response, including International Health Regulation
- Roll-out of integrated disease surveillance programme using the real-time integrated health information platform (IHIP)
- Preparedness for, and response to all, emergencies
- Containment of antimicrobial resistance
Strategic Priority 4: Enhance India’s global leadership in health
- Improving access to medical products of assured quality made in India
- Development and information sharing of innovations in health practices and technologies including IHIP
- Strengthening India’s leadership in digital health
The period of this CCS is expected to bring rapid and significant changes to India’s Health sector and to improve access to quality health care, especially to the vulnerable and underserved populations.
The WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023