The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today has given its ex-post facto approval on the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan in the field of Healthcare and Wellness signed on 29th October, 2018.

The MoC covers the following areas of cooperation:

(a) Promoting specific projects: Developing human resource in the field of acute medicine, surgery and trauma  care  including  focus  on new areas  of competency in each field; Establishing an advanced joint testing laboratory for clinical examination; Establishing a Japanese language education centre for trainee candidates of care workers; Establishing collaborations among tertiary care centres in both countries such as AUMS; and Supporting sending organisations to provide pre-lectures about elderly care for technical intern training programmes of care workers through sending out certificated care workers from Japan and providing a curriculum and textbooks so as to provide trained care-givers to Japan.

(b) Development of infrastructure: Establishing a centralised management healthcare distribution centre; Improving sanitary environment by increasing access to hygienic and affordable toilets such as on-site processing one; Promoting institutional collaboration on patient data analysis and Information   and   Communication   Technology   &   Artificial Intelligence in medicine; India-Japan Innovation Hub in India; Establishing high end mobile BSL 3 Lab facilities in India; and Collaboration on getting high end medical devices including Point of Care Diagnostics with a special focus on establishing manufacturing units in India under "Make in India".

 (c) Human development: Developing human resource, research and project promotion forhealth self-management such as ME-BYO and Ayurveda; and Holding an India-Japan public and private healthcare forum.

(d) Any other areas as may be mutually decided upon to promote the synergies between AYUSHMAN Bharat Programme and other initiatives and AHWM; and

(e) Any other areas as may be mutually decided upon to promote cooperation as envisaged under this MOC.

A Joint Committee as a high-level consultative mechanism will be set up to further elaborate the details of cooperation and to oversee the implementation of this MoC.