India’s healthcare federation NATHEALTH and that of Africa -AHF- signed on Dec 12 an agreement to ramp up their cooperation in the health sector. The document, which was initialed during the India-Africa Health summit, has three key focuses namely investment, technology sharing, and public-private partnerships.

Through this collaboration, India wants to help Africa improve its healthcare services. The country plans to do this through fund injection in various areas including the development of innovative technologies, skills transfer, artificial intelligence, infrastructure construction, mobility programs, and research.

The Asian nation, known for its innovative health system, already has a strong presence on the continent via its pharmaceutical companies, such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, and Dr. Reddy's, which export or produce drugs locally.

Another area where India has invested well is training. As part of the e-VidyaBharati and e-ArogyaBharati Network projects, which aim to establish a network for skills development in Africa, the Indian government has pledged nearly 100 online courses and 15,000 scholarships in the fields of tele-education and telemedicine.

Vanessa Ngono Atangana