India's Vaccine Diplomacy

Even as many nations are battling the deadly pandemic, India, a world leader in health, has lent a helping hand by exporting vaccines to them. This diplomatic move could also help in medical tourism

- Dr KK Aggarwal

DURING the pandemic, India proved to the world that it has the best medical facility in comparison to most developed countries. India even reached out to supply Covid-19 medicines such as hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, diagnostic kits and equipment such as masks, gloves and ventilators. Many of these supplies were given as gifts to partner nations. India also conducted virtual camps to train healthcare workers, especially on how to conduct tests.

Even during this stressful time, India managed to work day and night to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. On January 16, it began its vaccination drive and close to six lakh frontline and healthcare workers were vaccinated. India is one of the world’s biggest drugmakers and an increasing number of countries approached it for procuring the vaccines—Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and developed in collaboration with ICMR and the National Institute of Virology, and Covishield made by the University of Oxford with Astra Zeneca and manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Recently, the government asked for 45 lakh more doses from the makers of Covaxin and even allowed the manufacturers to provide vaccines to other countries. The first batch of one lakh doses of Covishield was delivered to Bhutan and Maldives. In addition, Ne pal and Bangladesh too have re ceived the vaccines. All four got it under the “Neighbourhood First” policy. Many other countries are in line to receive the vaccine from India.