India and Norway sign Letter of Intent to extend cooperation in health sector

India and Norway signed a Letter of Intent on 28 September 2017 to extend bilateral cooperation within health sector through the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) for a period of three years starting from 2018.

The letter was signed in New Delhi between the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Through this initiative, the cooperation between India and Norway will continue to be aligned with the development goals of the Indian Government as outlined in its National Health Policy 2017 for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key Objective

• The cooperation would mainly focus on global health issues of common interest.

• It would also include areas related to reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and strengthening of the health system.

• It would also build on experiences from NIPI phase I and II.

• Besides this, it would focus on innovative, catalytic and strategic support taking the Indian Government’s Intensification Plan for Accelerated Maternal and Child Survival in India as the starting point.

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Background

• In 2006, governments of India and Norway had agreed to collaborate towards achieving MDG 4 in order to reduce child mortality based on commitments made by the two Prime Ministers.

• The partnership, based on India's health initiative- the National Health Mission (NHM), was aimed at facilitating rapid improvement in the quality of child and maternal health services in four high focus states - Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

• Besides the four states, the partnership initiative will now also be extended to the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

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