Press Release: Press Information Bureau

P

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Posted On:
20 MAY 2025 4:58PM by PIB Delhi

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the 78^th World Health Assembly via a video message, in Geneva today. In his remarks to the session, Prime Minister highlighted that the theme of the 78^th World Health Assembly – “One World for Health” – resonates with India’s vision of global health. He stated that “the future of a healthy world depends on inclusion, integrated vision and collaboration.”

Stressing that inclusion is central to India’s health reforms, Prime Minister spoke of Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health assurance scheme, which currently covers 580 million people and provides free medical treatment across India. He announced that the scheme has recently been expanded to include all citizens above the age of 70. Additionally, India has established a vast network of Health and Wellness Centres that offer screening for major conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. “Thousands of public pharmacies across the country also provide high-quality medicines at prices significantly lower than market rates, increasing access to essential drugs for all”, he stated.

Prime Minister emphasized that technology is an important catalyst to improve health outcomes and highlighted India’s achievements in this regard. “We have a digital platform to track vaccination of pregnant women and children. Millions of people have a unique digital health identity. It is helping us integrate benefits, insurance, records and information”, he said. He also added that “with telemedicine, nobody is too far from a doctor. Our free telemedicine service has enabled over 340 million consultations.” He further pointed out that because of these initiatives, the out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of total health expenditure has fallen significantly, while government health expenditure has gone up considerably.

Prime Minister underscored that the health of the world depends on how well we care about the most vulnerable, especially in the Global South who are particularly impacted by health challenges. Stating that India’s approach presents replicable, scalable and sustainable models, he offered to share India’s learnings and best practices with the world, especially the Global South.

Prime Minister also welcomed this year’s focus on “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”and extended an invitation to all countries to actively participate in promoting yoga as a means to improve physical and mental well-being. He congratulated the World Health Organization and all member states on the successful conclusion of negotiations of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) on Pandemic Treaty.

He concluded his address with a call for a shared commitment to fight future pandemics with greater cooperation. “While building a healthy planet, let us ensure that no one is left behind”, he stated.

Prime Minister’s address at the 78^th WHA can be watched here:

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HFW / PM – 78^th WHA Address/20 May 2025/1

(Release ID: 2129922)