Tal
New Delhi, Indien 2 februari 2010
Maria Larsson, Barn- och äldreminister

Tal av Maria Larsson vid öppningen av workshopen i Indo-Swedish Health Week

Honourable Minister of State, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour to speak at this opening of the workshop session of the Indo-Swedish Health Week. This session is the start of a very important part of this week. You will be able to meet people interested in the same topics as you are. My hope is that it will lay the ground of new collaboration in many areas

Together with a part of the Swedish delegation I had a very interesting day yesterday. After meeting with the new Indian health minister, Mr Azad, we could draw the conclusion that he is very committed to continue with the cooperation with Sweden. He also mentioned that India has several Memorandum of Understanding with different countries but that ours has been one of the fastest to move from idea to practical work.

When we began the discussions here in New Delhi in May 2008 we were not sure about what the interest looked like from the Indian side. Today we are very happy that so many practical projects have started and that this week has been filled with so many interesting and fruitful ideas. There is a seriousness, just as Mr Trivedi said.

The formal start of the Health Week took place yesterday and today is a an opportunity for us to deepen and institutionalize cooperation. The work you will do today can be very important for the future.

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The focus is in areas where Swedish and Indian organisations have been collaborating for some time, mainly through Sida-financed projects. One of those areas is maternal and child mortality. It is outrageous that one million women die every year in the world. Sweden has maybe the lowest rate in both maternal and child mortality in the world. We celebrated the 300 year anniversary of the Swedish Midwifes Association last year. Midwifes are an important key to our good results.

There is an ongoing inter-institutional collaboration which is lead by a consortium of Indian organizations, Karolinska institutet and the Swedish Association of Midwifes. This week is an opportunity to take this collaboration further and to spread it to other parts of India. The challenges include developing the role for midwifes, provide training and respond to the growing interest in states to develop midwifery education and to ensure that all births are attended by qualified midwifes/nurses.

Yesterday we visited a slum area here in Delhi and met young people, mostly girls who were engaged in supporting pregnant women and families. It was very interesting and is a collaboration between NGO:s in India and Sweden.

Concerning youth friendly services, there exists an ongoing collaboration between our countries. This is a Sida funded project, lead by the Indian NGO MAMTA, Lund University and RFSU. The aim is to focus young people's health by creating youth friendly environments in health care. This would significantly contribute to the Millennium Development Goals, reducing infant mortality and maternal mortality, as well as reducing the number of teenage pregnancies.

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In the health field there are several collaborations starting. Among the collaborations there is also alcohol related harm. Being the minister in charge of public health, the harmful use of alcohol is an area that I am deeply committed to. I was happy to learn that the WHO Executive Board agreed to endorse the draft global strategy on harmful use of alcohol. India is an important partner in having brought this issue as far as to a global strategy.

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In the area of health research the Karolinska institutet and Indian Council for Medical Research signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2009. The expanded collaboration, under the Ministerial MoU, should promote further research collaboration, exchange of knowledge and mobility of researchers.

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Dear minister and colleagues,
During the week we will also address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. It is estimated that more than half of all antimicrobials are prescribed, dispensed or sold on false grounds. The global spread of bacteria, which are resistant to antibiotics, is alarming. This is a serious development and it is underscored by the downward trend in developing new antibiotics.

Without access to effective antibiotics, common diseases, as pneumonia, will again become lethal threats. Therefore antibiotic resistance is especially pressing in developing countries. Where the burden of infectious disease is high. Also the effective treatment of cancer or the making of implants or transplantations is at stake.

India and Sweden have collaborated through the network of ReAct, a global organisation to respond to antibiotic resistance. I would like to see a stronger collaboration in this area. Both in order to address the problems nationally but also as partners in relation to the WHO. The WHO should take the global leadership in mitigating antibiotic resistance.

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Honourable minister, Ladies and gentlemen,
We have an important day ahead of us. Our work during this week, and your efforts here today, are crucial. I look forward to take part of the outcome of your discussions in the plenary session later this afternoon.

I would also like to mention that I have invited the Indian Health minister Mr Azad to come to Sweden as soon as possible.

Thank you.