Permanent Mission of India
New York
--

Moderated Panel Discussion - UNFPA Innovation Strategy 2030 Launch Event
 

India’s experiences in implementing innovative and technology focused national policies
and how they have advanced women’s health

Statement by Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, Permanent Representative
8 April 2025

Dear colleagues and friends,

At the outset, thank you for allowing us to contribute to this rich dialogue on bringing innovation and technology into health policies and the far-reaching impact it can have on our people, especially women.

With 954.40 million internet subscribers as of March 2024, India has demonstrated the transformative potential of digital technologies. I cannot but start with CoWin. During the health crisis triggered by Covid-19, India developed the CoWin Portal in record speed with focus on scalability, modularity, and interoperability. CoWin connected vaccine manufacturers, administrators, vaccination facilities and vaccine recipients. The platform helped scale the benefits of vaccination to all sections of society including women and girls, men, the elderly and the vulnerable. This combined with the app Aarogya Setu (meaning bridge to health in Sanskrit) in contact tracing and identifying covid hotpots became the digital backbone that helped India vaccinate a billion people while monitoring the different waves of the virus.

Our experience during covid accelerated adoption of technology in healthcare. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission aims to create a nationwide digital health ecosystem by linking health providers and patients online. The scheme allows my government to fill critical gaps in health infrastructure, surveillance, and research.With the stringent implementation of the Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) benchmarks, the delivery of minimum essential services, to rural and urban areas, is becoming possible. Through an open-source toolkit and a web-based dashboard, real time data on all public health facilities, including maternal, newborn and child health indicators, are made available, enabling data-driven decision making to identify gaps and make timely interventions.

Local digital solutions such as introduction of telemedicine services under eSanjeevni scheme have made healthcare accessible and affordable for a wide range of population. Our health policies have led to significant drop in maternal mortality ratios as well as a 70% decline in under-5 mortality rate as noted in the UNIGME 2024 Report.

The successful adoption of technology in the health sector by the Government has spurred socially driven entrepreneurs. Allow me to give one such examplex:

Armman is an NGO that leveraged the high mobile penetration in India to develop Kilkari – a mobile based service under the Digital India Initiative for new and expectant mothers. Kilkari delivers free weekly, time appropriate audio messages about pregnancy, childbirth and childcare via Interactive Voice Response (IVR). It educates the mother and the family about pregnancy and precautions to be taken during this crucial period. Armman also conducts frontline health worker training programme through mobile phones, aptly called Mobile Academy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) of India. Armman has reached over 61 million women.

Finally, I would like to mention India’s fruitful collaboration with UNFPA. We deeply value our 50-year partnership with UNFPA. The UNFPA has effectively supplemented India’s efforts to strengthen maternal health and family planning initiatives. The “Just Ask!” chatbot, mentioned by the moderator is an excellent example. Just Ask! is an AI-based platform for adolescents and young adults to learn about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. It is seeking to provide effective and accurate solutions for reproductive health.

In conclusion, I congratulate UNFPA on the launch of Innovation Strategy 2030 and I echo the call to leverage technology for the holistic growth of all sections of society for a healthier future.

I thank you