Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : India on June 4, 2020, pledged 15 Million US Dollars to Gavi, the international vaccine alliance. It was announced by PM Narendra Modi. PM He was addressing the virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which over 50 countries – business leaders, UN agencies, civil society, government ministers, Heads of State and country leaders participated. In his address, PM Modi said India stands in solidarity with the World in these challenging times.
PM Modi said that India’s civilization teaches to see the world as one family and that during this pandemic it had tried to live up to this teaching. He said India did it by sharing the country’s available stocks of medicine with over 120 countries by forging a common response strategy in its immediate neighborhood and by providing specific support to countries that sought it while also protecting India’s own vast population, according to a PIB release. He said the COVID-19 pandemic, in someways, has exposed the limitations of global cooperation and that for the first time in recent history, the human kind faces a clear common enemy.
Referring to Gavi, PM Modi said it is not just a global alliance but also a symbol of global solidarity and a reminder of that by helping others we can also help ourselves. He said India has a vast population and limited health facilities and that it understands the importance of immunisation.
Prime Minister Modi said that one of the first programmes launched by his government was Mission Indradhanush, which aims to ensure full vaccination of the country’s children and pregnant women including those in the remote parts of the vast nation. He said in order to expand protection, India has added six new vaccine to its National Immunisation Programme. He elaborated that India had digitised its entire vaccine supply line and developed an electronic vaccine intelligence network to monitor the integrity of its cold chain. These innovations are ensuring the availability of safe and potent vaccine in the right quantities at the right time till the last mile, he said
He said India is also the World’s foremost producer of vaccine and that it is fortunate to contribute to the immunisation of about 60 percent of the World’s children. PM Modi said India recognises and values the work of GAVI that is why it became a donor to GAVI while still being eligible for GAVI support. He said India’s support to GAVI is not only financial but that India’s huge demand also brings down the Global price of vaccine for all saving almost 400 Million Dollars for GAVI over the past five years.
PM Modi reiterated that India stands in solidarity with the world along with its proven capacity to produce quality medicine and vaccine at low cost, its own domestic experience in rapidly expanding immunisation and its considerable scientific research talent. India not only has the capacity to contribute to the global health efforts, but also has the will to do so, he said.