New Delhi: India and Japan on Monday collectively decided to expand the areas of collaboration to digital health and the use of Artificial Intelligence in health, elderly care and non-communicable diseases. The decision was taken following a bilateral meeting with Japan on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) session in Geneva.
The Indian delegation at the Geneva conference is led by Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra. Government sources said that both countries agreed to work on a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed in 2018 and hold a Joint Working Group soon.
“Apart from expanding the areas of collaboration to digital health, use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health, elderly care and non-communicable diseases, both sides also decided to strengthen the ongoing programme on training of nursing professionals in the Japanese language for opportunities in Japan,” the sources said.
It is worth mentioning that given synergies and complementarities between the two nations, the “India-Japan Digital Partnership” (IJDP) was launched during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan in October 2018 furthering existing areas of cooperation as well as new initiatives within the scope of cooperation in S&T/ICT, focusing more on “Digital ICT Technologies”.
Meanwhile, WHO has released a strategic framework for enhancing the prevention and control of Mpox (2024–2027), providing a roadmap for health authorities, communities and stakeholders worldwide to control Mpox outbreaks in every context, advance Mpox research and access to countermeasures and to minimise zoonotic transmission.
Mpox continues to affect people around the world. WHO’s new framework that was released on Friday will also guide other stakeholders in preventing and controlling Mpox outbreaks, eliminating human-to-human transmission of the disease, and reducing spillover of the virus from animals to humans.
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the Monkeypox virus (MPXV). It can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever. Most people fully recover, but some get very sick. The virus is transmitted from person to person through close contact, including sexual contact.
It also has animal reservoirs in East, Central and West Africa where spillovers from animals to humans can occasionally occur, sparking further outbreaks. There are two different clades of the virus, including clade I and clade II. Clade I outbreaks are deadlier than clade II outbreaks.
A major emergence of Mpox linked to clade II began in 2017, and since 2022, has spread to all regions of the world. Between July 2022 and May 2023, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. While that outbreak has largely subsided, cases and deaths continue to be reported today, illustrating that low-level transmission continues around the world.
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