WHO chief thanks PM Modi for strong commitment to COVID-19 vaccine

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his strong commitment to Covax and making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good.

"I thanked Prime Minister @narendramodi for his strong commitment to COVAX and making #COVID19 vaccines a global public good. The pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for the world, and we agreed to work shoulder to shoulder to end it. #ACTtogether," Tedros said in a tweet in Hindi.

Tedros added he had a "very productive" telephone call with PM Modi during which both of them talked about ways to "strengthen our collaboration and advance access to knowledge, research and training in traditional medicine globally".

"Namaste, Prime Minister @narendramodi, for a very productive call on how to strengthen our collaboration & advance access to knowledge, research and training in traditional medicine globally. @WHO welcomes India's Flag of India leading role in global health, and to universal health coverage," The WHO chief had tweeted.

PM Modi also expressed his appreciation for WHO's important role in facilitating a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a statement issued by the PMO said.

He also noted the need to not lose sight of the battle against other diseases and appreciated the importance of WHO's support to the health systems of developing countries, the statement added.

PM Modi also informed Dr Tedros about the planned celebration of Ayurveda Day in India on November 13 under the theme of 'Ayurveda for COVID-19'.

The Director General stressed that the potential of traditional medicine had not been adequately appreciated until now, and said that the WHO was actively working to encourage research, training and sharing of best practices in this area.