Nadda and Norwegian counterpart discuss healthcare partnership

New Delhi, Nov 17 Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda on Monday held a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jan Christian Vestre, discussing India's priorities in digital health, human resource development, maternal and child nutrition and collaborative research on diseases.

Nadda stated that he proposed signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for deepening collaboration between two nations in health, medicine and drug regulation.

"Met with Mr. Jan Christian Vestre, Health Minister of Norway, in New Delhi today. I proposed signing of MoUs for furthering our collaboration in health and medicine as well as drug regulation. Discussed India’s priorities in digital health, human resource development, maternal and child nutrition and collaborative research on diseases. Looking forward to advancing our healthcare partnership and further deepening bilateral relations between our two countries," the Health Minister posted on X.

Earlier, Norway's Ambassador to India May Elin-Stener warmly welcomed Jan Christian Vestre to New Delhi.

In a video shared by May Elin Stener on X, Vestre stated, "Dear friends, it's wonderful to be back in India. Last year I visited as Norway's Minister of Trade several times. And this time I'm returning as Minister of Health and Care Services, looking forward to deepening our collaboration in the health sector. I am very excited to attend the Bengaluru Tech Summit tomorrow and to connect with partners shaping the future of healthcare and innovation."

While sharing the video on X, Norwegian ambassador wrote, "Excited to welcome Norway’s Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre back to India. His programme includes high-level meetings, engagements on digital health and innovation, and participation in Bengaluru Tech Summit."

Earlier in October, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava chaired the annual meeting of the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI). Norway's Ambassador May-Elin Stener co-chaired the meeting. The meeting aimed to review and approve the NIPI Progress Report 2025 and the budgeted work plans for 2025–26 under Phase IV of the initiative, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press release.

During the event, Punya Salila Srivastava stated, "NIPI displays how convergence of efforts can yield results. Government of India is also involved in convergence with states and UTs, through whole-of-government approach for achieving desired outcomes." Noting that India displays a good testing ground for bringing innovation, she expressed India’s commitment to share the best practices under the initiative for replication in other settings.

In her remarks at the event, May-Elin Stener highlighted that next year will mark 20 years of this partnership. She stated that there have been innovative and catalytic interventions through this partnership which has helped in bringing significant results. She noted that the Indian government has invested 26 times the amount Norway spent under this initiative which highlights the importance being given to this collaboration.

The NIPI is based on agreement between Governments of Norway and India to collaborate towards achieving India’s National Health Policy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to press release. NIPI’s vision is to provide strategic, catalytic and innovative support to India’s National Health Mission (NHM), in Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir. The partnership has successfully completed three phases and is currently in its fourth phase, providing crucial technical support to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and NHMs of partner states.

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