G20: India proposes medical countermeasure coordination for public good

India, under its G20 presidency, has proposed a medical countermeasure coordination platform that will help set norms and standards for the common public good, equity and a voice for the global south to effectively deal with challenges of any Covid-like pandemic.

The mechanism will focus on strengthening the global application of digital health, Dr Lakshmi Narasimhan Balaji, Senior Adviser Health, UNICEF, said on Sunday.

He is attending the third G20 Health Working Group meeting being held here from June 4 to 6.

"It took close to one and half years during the Covid pandemic to get a fuller understanding of the challenges related to equity and that the world is not safe if every country is not secure in terms of being able to control any outbreak.

"G20 and G7 are powerful push mechanisms to get a global agreement. The medical countermeasure priority paper talks about a platform with a regulatory mechanism and rules of engagement among the countries," Balaji told PTI.

He said India