‘Half of world’s 8 billion vaccines made in India’

INDIA has manufactured half of the eight billion vaccine doses distributed worldwide over the past year, the country’s health secretary, Punya Salila Srivastava, stated. She made this remark while speaking at the India Leadership Summit 2024, organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.

Srivastava highlighted India's significant role in the global pharmaceutical industry, noting that the country is the third-largest producer of pharmaceuticals and a major supplier of generic medicines. This leadership, she said, has led to considerable savings for healthcare systems globally, including in the US.

"The contribution of the Indian pharmaceutical industry is evidenced by the fact that India has the highest number of US FDA-approved pharmaceutical plants outside of the United States," she said, adding that these facilities make up 25 per cent of the US FDA-approved plants located outside the US.

Srivastava also mentioned that medicines from Indian companies provided £167 million in savings to the US healthcare system in 2022, with total savings amounting to £992 million between 2013 and 2022.

She emphasised India's dominance in vaccine production, stating that 50 per cent of all vaccines manufactured globally come from India. "In the last year alone, of the eight billion vaccine doses produced and distributed worldwide, four billion were made in India," she said.

Addressing reforms in India's healthcare system, Srivastava discussed the overhaul of medical education through the National Medical Commission Act, which has led to an increase in the number of medical and nursing colleges. This, she noted, is helping to address disparities in healthcare professional availability and meet both national and global healthcare workforce needs.

The government’s efforts, she said, have improved the quality, scale, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare in India. "It is a testament to our expanded healthcare services that out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure declined by 25 percentage points between 2013-2014 and 2021-2022," she noted.

Srivastava also discussed the strong health partnership between India and the US. She highlighted the collaboration between India’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the US Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in areas such as surveillance, pandemic preparedness, and anti-microbial resistance.

"Over 200 Epidemic Intelligence Services officers have been trained through Field Epidemiology Training Programmes (FETP) with another 50 currently undergoing training," she said.

The two countries have also agreed to establish a joint strategic framework aimed at strengthening the biopharmaceutical supply chain through the Bio-5 alliance. Additionally, Srivastava spoke about the US-India Cancer Moonshot Dialogue, launched in August 2023, which focuses on cancer research, particularly cervical cancer, through partnerships with institutions like AIIMS and Tata Memorial Hospital. This has now expanded into the Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

Srivastava concluded by emphasising India’s commitment to global healthcare, referencing a £5.7 million grant for cancer testing and diagnostics in the Indo-Pacific region, along with India's contribution of 40 million vaccine doses under the GAVI and Quad programmes for countries in need.

(With inputs from PTI)