India and Japan commit to bolster health cooperation

New Delhi: In a significant move to enhance bilateral health cooperation, India and Japan have agreed to advance their collaborative efforts during a meeting on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, officials on Monday said.

The two nations emphasised their commitment to building on the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2018, they said.

The key areas of focus included expanding cooperation into new domains such as digital health, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, elderly care, and tackling non-communicable diseases.

This initiative aims to leverage technological advancements to improve health outcomes and address the growing challenges posed by an ageing population and lifestyle-related diseases, the officials said.

They highlighted the importance of the forthcoming Joint Working Group meeting, which will facilitate detailed planning and implementation of these collaborative projects.

Additionally, the two countries are set to strengthen their ongoing programme focused on training the Indian nursing professionals in the Japanese language.

This programme is designed to prepare the nurses for employment opportunities in Japan, addressing the country's healthcare workforce needs while providing valuable career prospects for the Indian professionals, they said.