Retired Microsoft co-founder and WHO mega-donor Bill Gates said it was great to exchange perspectives on global healthcare issues with India’s Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya during their meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this week.
“India’s success with the vaccination drive and the use of technology to drive health outcomes at scale offers many lessons for the world,” the billionaire tweeted on Saturday in response to Mandaviya’s earlier tweet.
According to India’s top health official, in Davos they discussed a wide range of topics, from “disease control management” to “creation of mRNA regional hubs,” as well as the development of affordable and high quality diagnostics and medical devices.
With an estimated 88 percent of India’s adult population fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Saturday, Mandaviya said that Gates had specifically noted India’s pandemic management success and “mammoth vaccination efforts.” In its effort to inoculate a population of 1.38 billion, New Delhi mostly relied on AstraZeneca’s Covishield and domestically developed Covaxin, as well as small batches of Russia’s Sputnik.