India-US MoU on Mental Health: Indian Traditional Therapies to be exchanged for US Generic Drugs

During the US President Donald Trump visit to India, the countries signed agreements in the field of energy, oil, defence and health. India and US signed the agreement on mental health to enable India to treat mental health issues.

Highlights

The Agreement facilitates greater access of traditional drugs and therapies of India to the US market. In return, India is to gain access to generic drug market of US. This will help India obtain higher standards of generic standard compliance.

Need

According to Lancet Report, the mental health disorders have increased from 3% in 1990 to 6% in 2013. This is expected to be low, as the report says that 80% of the mental disorders in the country are not reported.

It is important for India to boost its mental health treatments. This is because, it is estimated that globally, 1 trillion USD of productivity is lost due to depression and anxiety.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2020