New Delhi
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India is committed to ensuring accessibility and affordability of vaccines for all.
Addressing the Seventh Annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals of UN, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India has been strongly advocating for the principle of equity in the WHO and has also proposed, along with South Africa, a TRIPS waiver at the WTO for COVID vaccines, diagnostics, and medicines. He said, India is working actively with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator to realize this goal. The Multi-Stakeholder Forum this year is focussing on science, technology and innovation for building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Dr Jitendra Singh told the delegates that that the enormous power of digital and information technology has been a key component of global response to Covid. He added, utilizing India’s strength in the digital space, New Delhi decided to share with the world, India-developed Co-WIN App, to provide digital support to better organize vaccination drives. The Minister said, India has long been fostering Science Technology and Innovation and nurturing an enabling ecosystem to incubate and scale revolutionary ideas, help improve the quality of lives of people and provide solutions to global problems. This has become even more crucial in the current scenario, he added. Referring to the global effort to overcome the challenges caused by the pandemic in the last two years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India has emerged as a member of leading international scientific coalitions in vaccine research. Our scientific community, along with the support of a robust pharmaceutical industry, have been successful in developing and producing safe, effective, and affordable vaccines, including the world’s first DNA based vaccine, the Minister asserted.
