External Affairs Minister (EAM)  S Jaishankar said on Friday that India has demonstrated that a country with a per capita income of less than USD 2,000 can reach out in a massive way in public health by setting up thousands of COVID-19 treatment centres as part of healthcare transformation using a combination of digital tools and increased production capacity.

India's health infrastructure has grown in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Jaishankar, who spoke at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on the topic of Great Power Competition: The Emerging World Order.

According to Jaishankar, when COVID-19 hit India, there were only two firms that assembled ventilators, no N95 mask manufacturer, and very little medical equipment. "What's occurred is that we've massively scaled up throughout that time... In response to COVID-19, the health infrastructure has expanded "he stated.  Thousands more COVID-19 treatment centres have been established in India, according to the government, following a devastating rise in cases earlier this year.

"We had a transformation in the health sector, and we've demonstrated that a country with a per capita income of less than USD 2,000 can reach out in a very, very big way in public health using a mix of digital technologies and increased production capacity," Jaishankar said.

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