ANAND, Sept 2:
India’s culture of service is helping it gain prominence in the new world order created in the post-COVID era, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday, citing the supply of medicines and vaccines by the Centre during the pandemic.
“When international airlines were shut (during COVID outbreak), six to seven planes landed in India daily only to procure medicines. We did not just provide medicines but also made the whole world aware of our culture,” Mandaviya said after inaugurating the Amrita Patel Centre of Public Health at Bhaikaka University at Karamsad in Anand district.
Had India desired, the minister said, it could have then sold medicines to other countries at a much higher price. But India continued to supply medicines at pre-pandemic price levels, he said.
“When the world was stockpiling vaccines three to four times their requirement, India made vaccines to meet the domestic need and also supply to more than 100 countries at a lower rate under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ scheme,” he said.
“This is why in the post-COVID era, a new world order has emerged. …75 years (after the new world order was created by World War II), our culture of service is helping India gain recognition and prominence in the new world order,” he said.
Mandaviya also quoted American business magnate Bill Gates telling him during a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum: “Congratulate India, you have done good COVID management and vaccination drive.”
“The world is praising India. The country is changing and progressing and a new India is being created under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership…Previous Governments took decisions with the aim of getting reelected, but the Modi Government takes decisions with a holistic approach,” he said.
He said that the Government is not only thinking about establishing up new hospitals but also increasing MBBS seats by setting up more undergraduate and postgraduate medical colleges.
“The Government has set up 1.7 lakh health and wellness centres with yoga activities, 13 types of tests, preventive care, vaccination drive and specialist doctors providing advice to persons sitting in remote areas through telemedicine,” he said.
The Government has invested Rs 64,000 crore in four years under the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, he said. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
