India, US to boost health cooperation

Washington, April 11 (IANS) India and the US will strengthen cooperation in the area of public health by sharing information and best practices, identify and address policy concerns and establish new technologies.

The agreement to ensure smooth implementation of issues for bilateral cooperation was reached during a meeting here Monday between Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao and US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Rao highlighted the importance of vibrant India-US health cooperation in strengthening their strategic dialogue and addressing the challenges of global health such as Rotavirus vaccine development, solution for HIV/AIDS and non-communicable diseases containment, the Indian embassy said in a media release.

To further broaden and deepen the bilateral health cooperation and to ensure better health at affordable costs for the people, she mentioned about emerging collaboration opportunities in areas of cancer research

These include specifically cooperation in development of the Indian National Cancer Institute and low cost biomedical technologies and health informatics.

Rao also underscored the opportunity for development of cooperation in the field of traditional medicine, which has immense market potential in the US.

Recalling her visit to India in January, Sebelius said it had helped her to understand the complexities of Indian health system and its challenges, the release said

She lauded the Indian effort for eradication of polio over the last one year, which resulted in removal of India from the list of polio affected nations by World Health Organization (WHO).

Sebelius also expressed her satisfaction in progress of the Global Disease Detection (GDD) - India Centre, which has been established in collaboration with the US Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).