India, which is witnessing a faster rate of decline in mortality rates of women and children in the last few years, is well on its way to meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for maternal and child health, much ahead of the agreed date of 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
“We are committed to increasing India’s health spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025, reaching to more than $100 billion. This will mean an actual increase of 345 per cent over the current share, in just eight years,” the Prime Minister said while inaugurating the fourth editor of Partners’ Forum, a 2-day global conference, in which 1,200 high-level delegates from 85 countries, including ministers from 25 countries are participating.
“The India story is one of hope. Hope that roadblocks can be overcome. Hope that behavioural change can be ensured. Hope that rapid progress can be achieved,” Modi said.
The forum, being organised by the Government jointly with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), hopes to accelerate efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality, improve adolescent, child, newborn and maternal health, by learning from the success stories of other countries. This is second such forum to be organised in India, the first one being in 2010.
