FCC South Asia held a webinar on COVID-19 AND UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE jointly with SDG Choupal .Siddharth Chatterjee (UN Resident Coordinator for Kenya) was the key guest speaker and addressed the ongoing health issues around the globe.
S Venkat Narayan President FCC South Asia started the webinar by introducing all speakers and opening remarks setting the tone .Prof.Deepak Dwivedi Chairman SDG Choupal gave the introductory speech explaining how India supported the development work for the United Nations. He explained how India can achieve Global Goals with the motto “Together for Everyone’s Growth with Everyone’s Trust”. The major schemes like the Aysuhman Bharat and other schemes that the Indian government has opened up to help the citizens all across to battle COVID also support to other countries.
Mr. Munish Gupta Secy FCC South Asia Welcomed Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee for the Special Address.
Mr. Chatterjee started off by discussing how the COVID-19 virus has affected people across the globe. The effect the virus had on people’s daily life, on the world economy, how it has hindered every aspect of our lives. He discussed the importance of Universal Healthcare Coverage. He quoted a Greek Philosopher “When Health is Absent Wisdom cannot Reveal itself, Art cannot Manifest, Strength Cannot Fight, Wealth becomes Useless, and Intelligence cannot be applied”. He shared that we all need to adapt ourselves to stop the spread of the virus. Hand hygiene, proper respiratory etiquette, maintaining proper distances, and making sure to wear a mask are the significant tasks we all need to be aware of to flatten the curve. We have to take preventative measures in order to be free of these diseases. Countries like Singapore have invested in Universal Healthcare Systems and have managed to curb the virus spread. All countries should prioritize investing in Universal Healthcare System in order to prevent all kinds of health emergencies, especially against COVID-19 Pandemic. Technology is also a key factor here. Investments are to be made on the Universal Healthcare System to be an anchor to all the Global Goals. Sustainable Goal Number 3 is of prime importance during post-COVID-19 response .There are 3 P’s in achieving Universal Healthcare, first is ensuring Political Will , second is having the right Public Policy and third is Partnerships .
Kimberley Leonard (Sky News Journalist, UK) also shared on how pandemic caused havoc all across the globe.
Mr.Chatterjee spoke about how the private sector played a role where the government could not respond .The Healthcare offered by the private sector has also played a prominent role in controlling the casualties caused by the pandemic.
Mr. Jigmi Singay (Former Health Minister of Bhutan) spoke on the situation of the Healthcare of Bhutan after the effect of COVID-19. Bhutan has shown a positive trend during the pandemic and is successfully able to keep the situation under control.
Mr. Thyragarajan Muralidharan shared the situation of Telangana (one of the worst affected states by Corona) on how the state was not able to conduct many tests in the earlier phases which now the government is planning to do 20,000 to 30,000 tests per day. The media narrative has shifted from being preventive to a three-level architecture where people are becoming self-dependent.
Concluding discussions in open house led by Mr Chatterjee said Public and Private Healthcare organizations working together will bring out the best for Universal Healthcare. He gave examples of the successful fusion of the two that has been successful in the field of Healthcare. He gave example of how maternal mortality rate reduced to ⅓ in 2.5 years in 6 counties of Kenya just because of the mutual working of both the private and public sectors.
The UN and WHO needs to collaborate with all the countries to come up with plans and have shared vision in order to eradicate all kinds of such health emergencies.
Discussions ended with thank you note by S Venkat Narayan President FCC.
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