Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Quad Cancer Moonshot event hosted by President Joseph R Biden Jr., on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware.Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister deeply appreciated this thoughtful initiative of President Biden aimed at preventing, detecting and treating cervical cancer.
He stated that the program would go a long way in providing affordable, accessible and quality health-care to people in Indo-Pacific countries. He noted that India was also undertaking a mass cervical cancer screening program in the country. Talking of India’s health security efforts, he mentioned that the country has developed a cervical cancer vaccine and is working on an AI based treatment protocol for the disease.
As India’s contribution to the Cancer Moonshot initiative, Prime Minister, in keeping with India’s vision of ONE WORLD, ONE HEALTH, announced the dedication of a grant of US $7.5 million to cancer testing, screening, and diagnostics in the Indo-Pacific region.
Prime Minister also announced that India will provide support for radiotherapy treatment and capacity building for cancer prevention in the Indo-Pacific. He also mentioned that Indo-Pacific countries will be benefiting from the supply of 40 million doses of vaccine from India under GAVI and QUAD programs.
Prime Minister noted that when the Quad acts, it is not just for nations, it is for the people and that is the true essence of its human-centric approach.India will also offer technical assistance to interested countries in the Indo-Pacific region on DPI for cancer screening, care and continuum through its US$ 10 million contribution to WHO’s-Global Initiative on Digital Health.
Through the Cancer Moonshot initiative, the Quad leaders committed to work together to address gaps in the cervical cancer care and treatment ecosystem in the Indo-Pacific countries. A Joint Cancer Moonshot Fact Sheet was released on the occasion.