Covid exposed a need for efficient healthcare delivery system: NITI Aayog CEO

New Delhi, April 8

Covid has exposed a need for efficient healthcare delivery system, said NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, adding that technology and research solutions that provide data-based information quickly is the need of the hour so that decisions can be taken swiftly.

Kant was speaking at an event titled "Applying Lessons Learned from Covid for a Stronger Health System" on Thursday.

The event was held to discuss strengthening research in public health, medicine, climate change, and technology over the next five years through impactful partnerships of more than 100 organisations in India, including the NITI Aayog, ICMR, and MoHFW by Johns Hopkins Gupta-Klinsky India Institute.

A panel discussed the importance and urgency of interdisciplinary and multiple approaches that generate new solutions for health system resiliency.

"The past two years have shown that robust research frameworks inform life-saving health solutions. Public private partnerships remain key to the impact of research, whether it is R&D for vaccines and therapeutics, or implementation plans for delivery", said Gagandeep Kang, Virologist and Professor at CMC Vellore, who was also one of the panelists.

"The enormous stress that Covid has placed on every sector of humanity - education, business, trade, geopolitics, justice, social welfare, and beyond - highlights the lack of resiliency in health systems globally. Johns Hopkins University and India have worked together to strengthen health systems since the 1930s. We will continue our work together to address health systems resiliency by developing solutions that are scalable across the globe," Sunil Kumar, Provost, John Hopkins University.