About half of the eight billion vaccine doses produced worldwide in the past year were manufactured in India, the Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava pointed out at the annual India Leadership Summit 2024, highlighting India’s significant contributions to global healthcare.
“India has emerged as a global leader in pharmaceuticals, being the third-largest producer and a key supplier of generic medicines.” This leadership has resulted in considerable savings for healthcare systems globally, including a notable impact on the US healthcare system.
“India has the highest number of US FDA-approved pharmaceutical plants outside of the United States,” she stated, pointing out that these facilities account for 25 percent of all such approvals outside the US. In 2022 alone, Indian medicines provided an astonishing $219 billion in savings to the US healthcare system, amounting to a total of $1.3 trillion from 2013 to 2022.
Punya emphasized India's pivotal role in vaccine production, claiming, “50 per cent of all vaccines manufactured in the world are from India.” She reiterated that four billion doses of the total eight billion distributed globally in the past year were produced in India, solidifying the country’s reputation as the "pharmacy of the world."
To bolster its healthcare system, India has reformed medical education by implementing the National Medical Commission Act, which has led to an increase in medical and nursing colleges and enrolment. This initiative aims to address disparities in healthcare professional availability, preparing India to meet both national and global healthcare needs.
Punya noted the progressive improvement in healthcare quality and cost-effectiveness, stating, “The out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), which is borne entirely by the households, has declined by 25 percentage points as a share of total health expenditure between 2013-2014 and 2021-2022.”
Discussing the robust Indo-US health partnership, she highlighted collaboration in areas such as surveillance, pandemic preparedness, and antimicrobial resistance through the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the US Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). She mentioned that over 200 Epidemic Intelligence Services (EIS) officers have been trained through programs organized in collaboration with the US CDC, with another 50 currently undergoing training.
Furthermore, India and the US have agreed to establish a joint strategic framework to optimize the biopharmaceutical supply chain, enhancing global supply chains while reducing dependencies on single-source suppliers through the Bio-5 alliance.
The summit also underscored a shared commitment between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden to accelerate cancer research, leading to the launch of the US-India Cancer Moonshot Dialogue. This initiative aims to enhance biomedical research cooperation, particularly in cervical cancer, with collaborations involving institutions like AIIMS and Tata Memorial Hospital.
Reflecting on India's holistic approach, Punya announced a grant of $7.5 million dedicated to cancer testing and diagnostics in the Indo-Pacific region. India will also contribute 40 million vaccine doses through GAVI and Quad programs to assist nations in need.
Punya concluded by emphasizing that the India-US partnership in healthcare exemplifies collaborative efforts to tackle shared health challenges, reinforcing the mutual commitment to improving global health outcomes.
Also Read: Supreme Court Dismisses Petition Claiming COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects