G20 Health Working Group meet draws attention with Co-WIN, e-Sanjeevani

An exhibition showcasing India's digital health initiatives such as COVID-19 vaccination portal Co-WIN and tele-consultation platform e-Sanjeevani has been drawing a lot of attention, particularly from foreign delegates, at the second G20 Health Working Group meeting here.

India highlighted its priorities and contributions to global health preparedness at the meeting, which began here on Monday.

As part of the meeting, a stall showcasing India's national COVID-19 vaccination programme and Co-WIN portal that enabled delivery of more than 220 crore vaccine doses has been set up.

The Co-WIN platform has been made available as a "digital public good for all the nations globally. It is scalable, inclusive and open platform that serves the entire public health system of nation.

The ICMR's mBSL-3, which is the first biosafety level-3 containment mobile laboratory of South Asia, has been stationed at the parking and drew a large number of delegates.

The mobile laboratory was set up in February last year to investigate newly emerging and re-emerging viral infections that are highly infectious and of lethal potential to human beings, Dr Rajnikant Srivastava, senior scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said.

The existing infrastructure of BSL-3 laboratories is fixed and dependent on transporting samples from near and far locations, often leading to delays in diagnosis.

"The lab has an intelligent control automation system and can be simply driven around to various locations, just like a normal bus," he said.

Also on display at the exhibition is ICMR's ultra portable hand held digital medical X-ray which is used for various diagnostic purposes such as for TB and Covid.

Made in India just a month back, the device weighs 1.8 kg unlike the conventional portable X-ray which weighs 20 to 70 kg.

"This X-Ray system looks and weighs just like a normal SLR camera and can be carried even in hand," Dr Rajnikant said.

Also, a portable cervical cancer screening device is being showcased.

Several mobile applications such as fever tracker, malaria dashboard for real-time surveillance of communicable disease, and GDM app for streamlining treatment of hypertension and diabetes are also being displayed at the ICMR's stall.

One stall has been put up to showcase the government's Ni-kshay portal, a repository of TB patients which also tracks their life cycle including treatment digitally.

Representatives inform the delegates about the recently launched Ni-kshay initiative which involve community adoption of TB patients to provide them nutritional and vocational support.

One of the total 18 stalls at the exhibition showcased the national tele-consultation service e-Sanjeevani.

The second Health Working Group meeting under India's G20 presidency will conclude on April 19. More than 180 delegates from 19 G20 member countries, 10 invited states and 22 international organisations are participating in it.