Washington, Sep 22 (IANS) Emphasising the spirit of the ‘One Earth, One Health’ vision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $7.5 million grant in support of sampling kits, detection kits and vaccines for the ‘Quad Cancer Moonshot’ initiative.
The initiative was announced during the sixth Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday and aims to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region by fighting cervical cancer.
Speaking at the Cancer Moonshot event in Wilmington, Prime Minister Modi said he was happy that in the Quad, “we have decided to jointly address the challenge of cervical cancer.”
Prime Minister Modi said, “I heartily congratulate President Biden for hosting this important event. It reflects our shared resolve for affordable, accessible and quality healthcare.”
He stressed, “Collaboration is essential for treatment in cancer care. An integrated approach of prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment is needed to reduce the burden of cancer.”
Prime Minister Modi said that India is running a very affordable cervical cancer screening programme on a large scale.
He said that India is ready to share its experience and expertise. India’s vision is “One Earth, One Health”. In this spirit, I announce a grant of $7.5 million for sampling kits, detection kits and vaccines under the QUAIT Moonshot initiative. India will also provide assistance in radiotherapy treatment and capacity building.
He said, “Apart from this, India is running the world’s largest health insurance scheme. Also, special centres have been created to make medicines available to everyone at affordable prices. India has also developed its own vaccine for cervical cancer. Also, new treatment protocols are also being introduced with the help of AI.”
He said India is ready to share its experience and expertise.
He said, “I am happy that India will contribute 40 million vaccine doses to the Indo-Pacific countries. These 40 million vaccine doses will bring a ray of hope in the lives of crores of people. Quad is not just for nations, it is for people. This is the true essence of our human-centric approach.”
He also announced that India will provide technical assistance to interested countries in the region on DPI for cancer screening, care and continuity through a contribution of US$ 10 million to the World Health Organization’s Global Initiative on Digital Health.
The event, held after the Quad summit, was attended by world leaders from all walks of life, each of whom pledged to make their contribution and shed light on the fight against the disease that claims millions of lives every year.
–IANS
AKS