Bilateral cooperation between the United States and India in health and biomedical innovation has had impressive results, but it holds the promise of even better outcomes and further innovations in the years to come.
Health and Biomedical Innovation
56 JANUARY/APRIL 2021
A Long History of Cooperation in Health, Led by a Range of Individuals and Institutions Bilateral cooperation in health dates to well before India’s independence. Gordon Hall, an American priest who had also studied medicine, set up the American Marathi Mission in Mumbai in 1813 to distribute medicine and health textbooks. Over the next 150 years, the American Marathi Mission assisted in the establishment of health institutions across India. In 1918, Dr. Ida Scudder, who grew up in India as a thirdgeneration American medical worker, opened India’s first medical school for women at the Christian Medical College Vellore—one of the first schools in India to accept female medical students. The institution remains one of India’s finest to this day. Americans have also long been exposed to Health and biomedical ties have expanded since Anandibai Joshee (above right) and Gurubai Karmarkar (right) traveled to the United States to study medicine and now form an important component of the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Exchanges of researchers and health professionals, including through the FulbrightNehru program (far right), contribute to developments that benefit our two countries and the world.
Photographs courtesy Wikipedia
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riving innovation to solve the health and biomedical challenges facing our citizens and those of other countries is one of the oldest and most successful areas of cooperation between the United States and India. This success reflects the best that our two countries can achieve together, and has improved the lives of millions of people in India, the United States, and around the world. Our national governments, state and local authorities, civil societies, and private sectors have all played important roles in this partnership. Our joint achievements in health have benefited directly from the dynamic contributions of many segments of our societies, from academic and non-profit institutions to private individuals, charitable entities, and religious organizations. Together, the United States and India have been leaders in driving path-breaking research and innovation, and expanding the accessibility of quality health services to vulnerable populations. Bilateral cooperation between the United States and India in health and biomedical innovation has had impressive results, but it holds the promise of even better outcomes and further innovations in the years to come.
