New Delhi, January 8-The Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between Department of Health & Family Welfare (DOHFW), Government of India and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on cooperation in the field of Health, which was signed in November, 2019 during the visit of Mr. Bill Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee of BMGF to Delhi, has received ex-post-facto approval by the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) covers the following areas of cooperation:-
- To reduce maternal, neonatal and child morbidity and mortality, improve key nutrition outcomes, by improving the reach, coverage and quality of essential primary health, immunization and nutrition services.
- To increase the basket of choice and quality for family planning methods, specially for reversible methods, and increase access amongst younger women.
- To reduce the burden of select infectious diseases [TB, Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), Lymphatic Filariasis(LF)].
- To strengthen health systems, including aspects such as budget utilization, management and skills of human resources for health, digital health, strengthening supply chains and monitoring systems.
A Program Action Committee (PAC) will be set up to further elaborate the details of cooperation and to oversee the implementation of this Memorandum of Cooperation.