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India committed to sharing its expertise with world in fight against COVID-19: PM Modi

Technology is integral to our fight against the pandemic, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi

India has been committed to sharing all its experiences, expertise and resources with the global community in the battle against COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, adding that technology is integral in tackling the pandemic.

“Despite all our constraints, we have tried to share as much as possible with the world. And, we remain eager to learn from global practices. Technology is integral to our fight against COVID-19. Luckily, software is one area in which there are no resource constraints,” Modi said, addressing the CoWin Global Conclave.

India presented the indigenously developed CoWIN platform to the world at the virtual global meet of representatives from 142 countries. The conclave was jointly organised by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and National Health Authority (NHA) with an objective to extend the Co-WIN platform as a digital public good to the world.

The prime minister expressed his delight at the enthusiasm and interest shown by countries from across the globe for Co-WIN platform. Observing that a digital approach is essential to return to normalcy in the post-pandemic time, Modi stressed on the importance of cooperation and collaboration in the fight against COVID-19.

“The Indian civilization considers whole world as one family. This pandemic has made many people realize the fundamental truth of this philosophy. Guided by the approach of 'One Earth, One Health', humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic,” he said.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who chaired the inaugural session, said Co-WIN is the crown jewel of the Digital India initiative. 

“What we have developed is a robust, inclusive and scalable system that can prevent rent-seeking, black marketing and other malpractices. The Co-WIN platform can be scaled-up as per requirements. I am thrilled to see the innovative ways in which the platform can be leveraged by countries across the globe to step up their vaccination drives,” Vardhan said.

The health minister claimed that in a country of more than 1.3 billion people, CoWIN ensured the challenge of ensuring fair and equitable distribution of the vaccines as well as their last mile delivery, removing information asymmetry and aligning stakeholders.

CoWIN enabled continuous tracking of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) to not only respond to help such citizens to overcome Adverse Events but to also generate data for policy making, said Vardhan.

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