Stressing that India has fast-tracked many initiatives aimed at achieving the tenets of universal health coverage, Union Minister J.P. Nadda on Monday said here that the country's objective is to attain the highest possible level of health.

"India has fast-tracked many initiatives aimed at achieving all the core tenets of Universal Health Coverage i.e, strengthening health systems, improving access to free medicines and diagnostics and reducing catastrophic healthcare spending," Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare said at the inauguration of the '71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South East Asia Region (SEAR).'

He said that the country "believes in the objective of attainment of the highest possible level of health, where health is a state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

"Moving towards this objective, we have adopted the National Health Policy 2017 with the aim to provide affordable healthcare for all," he added.

The session, attended by ministers of health from the SEAR countries, also had participation of Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, Preeti Sudan, Secretary (Health) among other dignitaries.

He described Ayushman Bharat as a programme that rests on "the twin pillars of health and wellness for provision of comprehensive primary healthcare services".

"Under the first pillar of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, we are reaching out to approximately 40 per cent of country's population roughly covering 500 million individuals, who will be provided an insurance cover of 500 thousand Indian rupees to cover secondary and tertiary healthcare."

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The Minister said that India has always supported regional and global public health issues.

"India supports the regional and global health agenda and stands ready to work with fellow member states and the international community to achieve our common goal of health for all," he said. (IANS)