Dili (Timor-Leste)

WorldHealth Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has praised India’s significant progress in the healthcare sector, particularly its efforts to expand primary healthcare coverage, improve maternal and child health and strengthen the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.

Tedros met Union Health Minister JP Nadda on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the WHO Re-gional Committee for South-East Asia being held in Dili, Timor-Leste, where the two leaders dis-cussed India’s healthcare achievements as well as its ongoing cooperation with the global health body.

Taking to X on Thursday, Tedros said, “I met India’s Health Minister J P Nadda and congratulated him on the country’s impressive health gains, particularly in maternal and child health and the fight against noncommunicable diseases.” He also praised India’s Ayushman Arogya Mandir initiative, which has expanded access to prima-ry healthcare services and screening facilities in communities across the country. Tedros said that through around 1, 60,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, India is taking screening for hypertension, diabetes and common cancers closer to communities, while also providing refer-ral pathways for patients who require further care and treatment. The WHO chief also highlighted the role played by India’s large network of ASHA workers in taking healthcare services to people in their communities, particularly in supporting women, moth-ers and children through different stages of life.

New Delhi

Indiaheld separate bilateral talks with Malaysia, Timor-Leste and Myanmar to expand agricultural cooperation, according to an official statement.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met his counterparts from the three countries here recently, on the sidelines of the 9th ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AIMMAF) event.

AIMMAF was organised by the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

In his meeting with Malaysia's Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Mohamed Bin Sabu, Chouhan discussed strengthening cooperation in joint agricultural research, technology and inno-vation through a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the statement said.