PM Modi to deliver keynote address at Grand Challenges Annual Meeting today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the virtual keynote address at the inaugural function of Grand Challenges Annual Meeting (GCAM) 2020 today. GCAM has fostered international innovation collaborations to address challenges in health and development for the last 15 years.

The GCAM 2020 will bring together policymakers and scientific leaders, calling for deepened scientific collaborations in solving global health problems, with great emphasis on COVID-19 with an "India for the World" framing.

Co-Chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates will present the plenary framing conversation. Grand Challenges India was set up as a partnership between the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012 and Wellcome also joined the partnership. Grand Challenges India works across a range of health and developmental priorities from agriculture, nutrition, sanitation, maternal and child health to infectious diseases.

The three-day brainstorming program will feature leaders talks, panel discussions and virtual informal conversations on various topics. These topics will range from scientific interventions for fighting the pandemic, managing the pandemic and accelerating the development and implementation of global solutions to combat present pandemic and prevent future one. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will deliver the opening remarks. Approximately 1600 people from 40 countries are expected to take part in this meeting. The GCAM 2020 will be co-hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, the Indian Council of Medical Research and NITI Aayog, along with the Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development and Wellcome.