Bill Gates praises India’s potential, says “Indian Pharma Industry capable of producing Covid-19 vaccines for entire world”

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 12:42 pm

According to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has the complete capacity and capabilities to produce Covid-19 vaccine well enough for the entire world.

The Co-chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said “A lot of very important things have been done in India and its pharma industry is doing work to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases.”

Bill Gates is speaking for a documentary titled “Covid-19: India’s War Against The Virus” to be premiered on Thursday on Discovery Plus. For the documentary Mr. Gates said that India is highly susceptible to health crisis due to the size of country and high population density in urban areas clusters.

“A lot of very important things have been done in India and its pharma industry is doing work to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases.”

Co-chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Mr. Gates lauded the capabilities in India’s pharma industry saying that India enjoys presence of many pharma giants that are also large suppliers to other countries. He further said that India enjoys the status of being the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world, with Serum Institute being the largest.   

He elaborated, “But there are also Bio E, Bharat Biotech, many others. They are doing work to help make the coronavirus vaccine, building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases.”

Referring India’s inclusion in Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) – the group that works internationally to build vaccine platforms – Bill Gates said, “I am excited that the pharmaceutical industry there will be able to produce not just for India but also for the entire world. This is what we need to reduce the deaths and make sure we are immune, which is how we end the epidemic.”

Mr. Gates informed that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is working in partnership with the government. The foundation is collaborating with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Biotechnology and office of Principal scientific advisor to get the work progress in the right direction.

He appreciated how the country was handling the pandemic, despite the size and clustered population, and trying to reduce the spread while making sure supply and availability of essentials like food is maintained.

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Regarding the role of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation he said it has “worked for the Indian government on health issues like introducing new vaccines over the last decade; and so when Covid-19 came along, we stepped in and said you know where are the gaps, we have been funding work on detection and isolation. We have been particularly active in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where we have done health delivery in the past.”

Foundation is also working on training the personnel and also front line health workers.