Australian Consul General meets Health Minister

Australian Consul General Silai Zaki, who called on Health Minister Ma. Subramanian on Thursday, said there are opportunities to cooperate such as introducing mobile breast cancer screening in rural parts of Tamil Nadu.

“We discussed cooperation that Australia is currently doing with India, but we also discussed priorities for health for Tamil Nadu, and areas in which Australia is working on,” she told reporters.

She added that Tamil Naidu is a leading State in India in terms of health initiatives and advanced medical technology. In Australia, there are schemes such as universal health scheme - medicare, National Disability Insurance Scheme, and care for the aged. There are lots of lessons learned from initiatives tested in Australia, she said, adding, “I have invited the Minister to come to Australia so we can further explore some of these opportunities.”

She pointed to the country’s experience in rolling out initiatives such as breast cancer screening nationally.

“I think there are opportunities for us to cooperate, where we can introduce some things in Tamil Nadu, like breast cancer screening, mobile breast cancer screening in rural parts of the community. Because Australia, like Tamil Nadu, is big, and there are rural communities, and I think we can benefit from the lessons learned on both sides,” she said.

Mr. Subramanian said the various health schemes being implemented in TN such as “Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam”, “Innuyir Kappom-Nammai Kakkum 48”, “Idhayam Kappom”, “Thozhilalar Thedi Maruthuvam” and health walks were explained to the delegation.

David Eggleston, Deputy Consul General, Australian Consulate-General Chennai and T. S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine were present.

Published - September 19, 2024 07:17 pm IST