The G20 Health Working Group meetings led by India have done a tour of India – Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in January; Goa in April; Hyderabad, Telengana in June. The final Ministerial meeting is scheduled at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in August.
All the 20 members of the grouping including the EU, 11 invited countries, and 29 International Organisations attend each meeting. Delegations vary from two to four members, sometimes swelling to a full dozen especially with the busy troika countries. The agenda is loaded and intertwined with the international health goals, the G20 commitments and India’s own domestic focus. And at the mid-point of India’s G20 Presidency, some wins are already visible.
Behind this successful effort, is an efficient and motivated G20 Health Secretariat, led by Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary, Health, Government of India. The secretariat curates the agenda, ensures that delegates have their necessary travel documents, circulate issue notes, non-papers[1] draft Ministerial declarations, and respond to requests on everything from logistics to review of papers.
But that is not the only thing that makes India’s G20 Health Track so special There are four reasons for its solidity. First, the meetings are connected with the concurrent international regulations and negotiations especially on pandemic preparedness. Second, by including the Global South and the AU in its G20 agenda, India ensures that much of the world has a voice in the discussions. Third, the Health Track began its work early in order to ensure Ministerial consensus; achieving this is possible because fourth, India’s political commitment is strong.
The meetings are anchored in the ongoing negotiations around International Health Regulations (IHR) and the effort by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) established by the World Health Assembly in 2021 to negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR). Pandemic preparedness is therefore the focus of India’s presidency, and the intention is to build consensus around issues that will be ratified at the UN General Assembly in September this year. India’s three health priorities for the G20 are (a) One Health and PPR, (b) establishing a Medical Countermeasures Platform[2] to ensure equal access to quality and affordable vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, and (c) securing consensus for a global digital health initiative[3]
All priorities resonate with the G20 members, which include the G7, and also economies such as Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, and Indonesia.
Every voice in the world is represented in these meetings. The G20 membership constitutes 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population. As the G20 increasingly becomes the forum to achieve consensus, given difficulties within the traditional UN processes, India has begun drawing in those representing the remaining third of the world’s population. By inviting the African Union to represent the continent during its presidency, India asserts its role as the leader of the Global South, reaching out to include voices left unheard. Similarly, by inviting Bangladesh – a country with immense social and health innovations as well as representing a large section of humanity – these meetings have transformed into large stakeholder conventions. Singapore brings its experience with innovation, UAE and Oman represent the Middle East – in all, it provides a fully rounded perspective.
India identified health priorities early and is focused on outcomes. The pandemic has established the link between health and economics and enabled India to draw on its long experience in the international arena to focus on outcome-driven health diplomacy. The G20 Presidency has provided the opportunity to shape the agenda and showcase India’s strengths in keeping the world safe in future pandemics. Priority-setting under the health track started early, well before the presidency passed from Indonesia. A thorough study of previous health track priorities and a firm intention to drive for consensus resulted in early behind-the-scenes outreach to international organisations to work out blueprints for a global health architecture. The Indian Chair is unwavering in its focus on building consensus on a strong Ministerial declaration.
Since the outcome is so critical, political ownership is strong. Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has attended every meeting. Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, the Minister of State, attends every morning yoga session. All Health Working Group meetings have a thematic side-event with an exhibition and field visits. G20 representatives have experienced health tourism, called Medical Value Travel[4] through the Somatheeram Ayurvedic Health Resort[5]; visited Jan Aushadhi Kendras[6] in two states; and in Hyderabad, we drove to Genome Valley[7] to see how Bharat Biotech leads the way establishing the country’s first biomedical research cluster.
The efforts are embraced by India’s famous hospitality, which starts even before representatives step onto Indian soil – at the aerobridge – with protocol officers to ease the immigration process as they arrive at the venue of a G20 meeting. Artists and cultural performers welcome the guests to God’s Own Country/City of Pearls/Incredible !ndia/Mother of Democracy with smiles that elevate them to the status of the god-guest (atithi-deva).
And the gifts are generous. Every state welcomes G20 representatives with something unique – cashews in Goa, wood carvings in Kerala, ikkat stoles in Hyderabad – packed like a wedding present in velvet boxes lined with satin. There are t-shirts, caps and water bottles for the morning yoga sessions, millet products to encourage the switch to slow, healthy carbs, and laptop bags that change with every venue. Unpacking brings the fragrance of India – basil, turmeric, cloves, and incense – much as Ibn Battuta, the 14th century Moroccan explorer must have experienced.
Meticulous planning notwithstanding, there are gaps. Having so many invited countries and international organisations inevitably means there is no time for open discussion as delegates read out prepared statements. Luckily, bilateral conversations follow the face-to-face meetings as countries align and re-align their positions. In the end, this will ensure that the Health Track is headed for consensus.
Gitanjali Chaturvedi is an international development professional presently managing sovereign and G20 relations for Gavi: The Vaccine Alliance.
This article was exclusively written for Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations. You can read more exclusive content here.
Photo credits: Gitanjali Chaturvedi, unless specified otherwise.
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References
[1] A term used by international organisations. These track the evolution of thinking around priorities and make proposals going forward. They are not for wider circulation or publication.
[2] This is a platform that aims to resolve regional and economic inequities in the event of another pandemic. It aims to decentralise by region, R&D and manufacturing capacities for vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics and enable delivery as well. It is envisaged as a successor to the ACT-A which was set up to ensure COVID tools were available to all across the world.
[3] This aims to centralise vaccination and health information systems across countries under the WHO’s digital health initiative. India hopes its COWIN experience will be scaled up and adopted as a digital public good.
[4] “Medical Value Travel,” Invest India, https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/healthcare/medical-value-travel#:~:text=What%20is%20medical%20value%20travel,restoring%20health%20through%20medical%20intervention.
[5] “Home,” Somatheeram Ayurvedic Health Resort, https://somatheeram.org/en/
[6] “Jan Aushadi,” Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India, http://janaushadhi.gov.in/index.aspx
[7] “Genome Valley,” Telangana Life Sciences, https://lifesciences.telangana.gov.in/life-sciences-grid/clusters/genome-valley/