India hosts event on women, children’s health at World Health Assembly

New Delhi: Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra on Thursday outlined India’s commitment to implement proactive actions for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, an official statement said.

Chandra was speaking at a side event organised at the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva by India in collaboration with Norway, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH).

The purpose of the event was to share emerging evidence and discoveries, fostering dialogue on pivotal opportunities for investment in maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and well-being, the statement said.

It said the event aimed to advocate for continued and augmented investment, prompting policy adjustments and their ramifications across diverse stakeholders and sectors while prioritising the needs of various population groups.

The focus of the event was on adolescent health and various speakers talked about different aspects of adolescent health, including the need to invest more on this issue.

Chandra, who is heading the Indian delegation, emphasised the progress made in this direction and highlighted the initiatives taken in this regard, the statement said.

“He outlined India’s commitment to implement proactive actions for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being,” the statement said.

“He highlighted India’s Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) I, RCH II initiatives and the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram which stressed on adolescent health.

“The rolling out of TeleManas was also mentioned as a key initiative taken by India,” the statement said.

India also emphasised the need to utilise the right strategies for communicating with the adolescent audience group.