Department Of South And Central Asian Studies
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Item Access to medicines through global health diplomacy(Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 2023-06-10T00:00:00) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Singh, Bawa; Pattanshetty, Sanjay; Reddy, SrikanthThe World Health Organisation (WHO) emphasizes that equitable access to safe and affordable medicines is vital to attaining the highest possible standard of health by all. Ensuring equitable access to medicines (ATM) is also a key narrative of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as SDG 3.8 specifies �access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all� as a central component of universal health coverage (UHC). The SDG 3.b emphasizes the need to develop medicines to address persistent treatment gaps. However, around 2 billion people globally have no access to essential medicines, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries. The states� recognition of health as a human right obligates them to ensure access to timely, acceptable, affordable health care. While ATM is inherent in minimizing the treatment gaps, global health diplomacy (GHD) contributes to addressing these gaps and fulfilling the state�s embracement of health as a human right. � 2023 The Author(s).Item India�s Neighbourhood Vaccine Diplomacy During COVID-19 Pandemic: Humanitarian and Geopolitical Perspectives(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022-02-18T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Singh, Sandeep; Singh, Balinder; Chattu, Vijay KumarIn recent years, India has established itself as the world�s �pharmacy hub�, and this claim was proven once again when it delivered COVID-19 vaccines to its citizens, neighbouring nations and across the globe. Following the philosophy of humanitarianism through the principle of �Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam�, India has decided to provide the COVID-19 health assistance to its immediate neighbouring countries. India�s immediate neighbourhood refers to the countries that are geographically adjacent to it. In addition, India�s vaccine diplomacy has exposed geopolitical fault lines in South Asia as China�s vaccine diplomacy aims to outpace India in the region. Against this background, the main objective of this paper is to explain and examine India�s vaccine diplomacy as an instrument of its �Neighbourhood First� policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that India�s health-focused approach has proved effective and aligned with its national interests. This review demonstrates that India�s health diplomacy has had an impact on medical and humanitarian assistance reciprocation at the regional and international levels. As a result of this strategy, during the second wave of the pandemic, India received medical devices and vaccines from other countries in dealing with COVID-19. � The Author(s) 2022.Item Global vaccine inequities and multilateralism amid COVID-19: Reconnaissance of Global Health Diplomacy as a panacea?(Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 2023-02-20T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Chattu, Vijay KumarBackground: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shown a crystal-clear warning that nobody will be safe until everybody is safe against the pandemic. However, how everyone is safe when the pandemic�s fat tail risks have broken every nerve of the global economy and healthcare facilities, including vaccine equity. Vaccine inequity has become one of the critical factors for millions of new infections and deaths during this pandemic. Against the backdrop of exponentially growing infected cases of COVID-19 along with vaccine in-equity, this paper will examine how multilateralism could play its role in mitigating vaccine equity through Global Health Diplomacy (GHD). Second, given the most affected developing countries� lack of participation in multilateralism, could GHD be left as an option in the worst-case scenario?. Methods: In this narrative review, a literature search was conducted in all the popular databases, such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Google search engines for the keywords in the context of developing countries and the findings are discussed in detail. Results: In this multilateral world, the global governance institutions in health have been monopolized by the global North, leading to COVID-19 vaccine inequities. GHD aids health protection and public health and improves international relations. Besides, GHD facilitates a broad range of stakeholders� commitment to collaborate in improving healthcare, achieving fair outcomes, achieving equity, and reducing poverty. Conclusion: Vaccine inequity is a major challenge of the present scenario, and GHD has been partly successful in being a panacea for many countries in the global south. � 2022 The Author(s).Item Advancing african medicines agency through global health diplomacy for an equitable pan-african universal health coverage: A scoping review(MDPI, 2021-11-09T00:00:00) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Dave, Vishal B.; Reddy, K. Srikanth; Singh, Bawa; Sahiledengle, Biniyam; Heyi, Demisu Zenbaba; Nattey, Cornelius; Atlaw, Daniel; Jackson, Kioko; El-Khatib, Ziad; Eltom, Akram AliThe African continent is home to 15% of the world�s population and suffers from a disease burden of more than 25% globally. In this COVID-19 era, the high burden and mortality are further worsened due to inequities, inequalities such as inadequate health systems, scarce financial and human resources, as well as unavailability of inexpensive medicines of good quality, safety, and efficacy. The Universal Health Coverage ensures that people have access to high-quality essential health services, secure, reliable, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines, as well as financial security. This paper aimed at addressing the critical need for a continental African Medicines Agency (AMA) in addressing the inequities and the role of global health diplomacy in building consensus to support the ratification of the Treaty of AMA. A literature review was done in Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Google Scholar search engine to identify the critical literature in the context of study objectives. All the articles published after 2015 till 2021 in the context of AMA were included. African Health Strategy 2016�2030 highlighted the importance of an African regulatory mechanism for medicines and medical products. Through global health diplomacy (GHD), the African Union and its partners can negotiate and cooperate in providing infrastructural, administrative, and regulatory support for establishing the AMA. The paper emphasizes the South�South cooperation and highlights the contributions of India and China in the supply of medicines and vaccines to Africa. A strong AMA created through GHD can be a vital instrument in utilizing Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) flexibilities extension and an ideal partner for European and other regional regulatory authorities seeking to stem the tide of counterfeit, sub-standard, or fake products. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item Covid-19 pandemic and reimagination of multilateralism through global health diplomacy(MDPI, 2021-10-21T00:00:00) Gupta, Nippun; Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Singh, Sandeep; Chattu, Vijay KumarThe ongoing pandemic COVID-19 has made it very clear that no one is safe until everyone is safe. But how can everyone be safe when the pandemic has broken every nerve of the economy and put an extra burden on the already crippled healthcare systems in low-income countries? Thus, the pandemic has changed the orientation of domestic as well as global politics, with many geopolitical shifts. The exponential growing infected cases and more than four million deaths has demanded a global response in terms of multilateralism. However, declining multilateralism and the need for its reforms was a much-delayed response. Given this context, this paper aimed to link the decline of multilateralism in the face of the pandemic by highlighting various instances of its failure and success; and highlighting the need for its revival. The article critically examines and evaluates the responses of multilateralism and global health diplomacy (GHD) during the pandemic. The ongoing black swan kind of event (an unexpected event) has obligated global leadership to think in terms of the revival of multilateralism through GHD. Historically, multilateralism through GHD has been shown to play an important role in managing and combating pandemics. The article further discusses various theoretical aspects such as sovereignty and hegemonic stability theory as reasons for the failing of multilateralism. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of foresight in reviving multilateralism in the pursuit of a more sustainable future. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item Prioritizing 'equity' in COVID-19 vaccine distribution through Global Health Diplomacy(Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 2021-09-30T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Chattu, Vijay KumarWith over 4 million deaths worldwide, the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is regarded as one of the worst pandemics in history. With its wider devastating consequences, even so-called affluent countries could not provide full coverage for COVID-19 vaccines and medications to all of their citizens. Against this backdrop, the main aim of this article is to examine how Global Health Diplomacy (GHD) can play a role in prioritizing vaccine equity in the global health agenda in the fight against COVID-19. The majority of developed countries' healthcare systems have been exposed and have reached a tipping point. After the completion of eighteen months of the pandemic, only five countries were able to produce vaccines for the treatment of COVID-19. This pandemic has divided the world into two blocs: those with vaccines, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and India; and those without, such as the rest of the world. The greatest challenges are vaccine inequalities, inequities and distribution, which undermine the global economic recovery. Many poor countries are still waiting for the initial doses to be delivered to their citizens, while some rich nations are planning for booster doses. GHD plays a critical role in establishing successful global collaborations, funding mechanisms and ensuring international cooperation through the combined efforts of all stakeholders. Besides, global solidarity is necessary to lessen the wider gaps between the vaccination status of rich and poor nations. Therefore, through GHD, the vaccine gaps and inequities can be addressed to strengthen global health security and accelerate global economic recovery. � 2021 The Author(s).Item COVID-19 and Global Distributive Justice: �Health Diplomacy� of India and South Africa for the TRIPS waiver(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022-01-19T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Kaur, Jaspal; Mol, Rajni; Gauttam, Priya; Singh, BalinderThe second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had left heart-wrenching impacts on all facets of life in general and the availability, accessibility, and affordability of medicines and vaccines in particular. Rather, the world has been divided into two groups regarding access to medicine and vaccines as haves and have-nots. The rich countries had pre-ordered the vaccines of COVID-19 along with the holding of the same. The pandemic situation was further worsened, given the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in practice and restrictions on sharing technology of vaccines, medicines, and life-saving equipment. In this context, India and South Africa have proposed the joint proposal and garnered support for waiving off TRIPS to ensure equity, accessibility, and affordability of vaccines and the same as public goods. In this review, we emphasize that global justice is one of the important elements of normative international theories, which focus on all the moral obligations from the world�s rich to the world�s poor. The paper also questions and argues that if the rich countries fail to go by the principles of global justice, can the Indian and South African (SA) patent diplomacy play a catalyst role in global justice? The review concludes with an emphasis on global solidarity, and the acceptance of joint India�South Africa�s �patent diplomacy� for TRIPS waiver would result in mass production and fair distribution, making the COVID-19 medicines and technologies available to everyone regardless of their poor�rich status. � The Author(s) 2022.Item The double whammy of pandemic and war: A systematic review of india�s education diplomacy to address educational inequities in afghanistan(MDPI, 2021-10-18T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Sen, Rajinder Kumar; Singh, Balinder; Chattu, Vijay KumarHigher education is considered an important tool for the overall development of any country, and it holds true in the context of Afghanistan as well. At the same time, a good eco-environment in terms of political will, leaders� farsighted vision, a fair budget, good infrastructure, and a good teaching community are some of the basic requirements for higher education to move in the direction of new and higher horizons. However, due to the ongoing war during the last couple of decades, the country�s education system has become out of reach for a substantial part of the population due to poverty, lack of infrastructure, refugees and internally displaced, digital division, etc., critically affecting the education equity. This systematic review examines India�s education diplomacy in addressing the inequities in Afghanistan�s education system and making them more equitable. Education was further dilapidated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Afghanistan is caught between a war and a pandemic and suffers from a double whammy in losses. Subsequently, given their chilling effects, higher education becomes devoid of multiples equities, including education. However, because of their historical and geo-civilizational ties, India has focused on development diplomacy in general and education diplomacy (E.D) in particular to improve educational infrastructures. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item COVID-19 Vaccine, TRIPS, and Global Health Diplomacy: India's Role at the WTO Platform(Hindawi Limited, 2021-08-27T00:00:00) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Jakovljevic, MihajloIn light of the devastation caused by COVID-19, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and vaccine research and development (R&D) have been occupying a prominent position in the field of global health diplomacy (GHD). Most countries, international organizations, and charitable organizations have been engaged in the R&D of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure timely affordability and accessibility to all countries. Concomitantly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides some provisions and enforcements regarding copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and industrial designs. Given these safeguards, it is considered that intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become major barriers to the affordability and accessibility of vaccines/medicines/technology, particularly to the developing/least developed countries. Realizing the gravity of the pandemic impact, as well as its huge population and size, India has elevated this issue in its global health diplomacy by submitting a joint proposal with South Africa to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a temporary waiver of IPRs to ensure timely affordability and accessibility of COVID-19 medical products to all countries. However, the issue of the temporary waive off had become a geopolitical issue. Countries that used to claim per se as strong advocates of human rights, egalitarianism, and healthy democracy have opposed this proposal. In this contrasting milieu, this paper is aimed at examining how the TRIPS has become a barrier for developing countries' development and distribution of vaccines/technology; secondly, how India strategizes its role in the WTO in pursuant of its global health diplomacy? We conclude that the IPRs regime should not become a barrier to the accessibility/affordability of essential drugs and vaccines. To ensure access, India needs to get more engaged in GHD with all the involved global stakeholders to get strong support for their joint proposal. The developed countries that rejected/resisted the proposal can rethink their full support. � 2021 Vijay Kumar Chattu et al.Item India�s Health Diplomacy as a Soft Power Tool towards Africa: Humanitarian and Geopolitical Analysis(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2021-09-17T00:00:00) Mol, Rajani; Singh, Bawa; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Kaur, Jaspal; Singh, BalinderIndia and Africa have been sharing a multidimensional relationship of cooperation and friendship since the ancient civilizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new possibilities and opportunities for India to leverage its soft power diplomacy towards Africa. The paper�s main focus is to analyze how India has made soft power part of its foreign policy and examine India�s relationship with the African continent through health diplomacy. A literature search was done in major databases, such as Web of Science, Medicine/PubMed, Scopus, OVID, and Google Scholar search engine to gather relevant information. Through humanitarian assistance and geopolitical influence, India had won the support and heart of Africans. Besides, India has become a global healthcare provider in the African continent through its global health diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy. India has achieved impressive gains through its soft power diplomacy and has become a compassionate and benevolent actor in the African continent. � The Author(s) 2021.