New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) India and the US Wednesday discussed the progress of the health initiative launched in 2010, officials said.

A high level delegation from the US led by US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, met union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for a bilateral meeting on health issues.

The hour-long discussions focused on the progress of the US-India Health Initiative launched in 2010.

Azad reaffirmed the ongoing cooperation in the field of health but also appealed to find new avenues to further broaden and deepen the commitment to ensure better health at affordable costs for people in India.

He said the Indian government has been implementing health care reforms in the field of infrastructure, human resources, health research and disease surveillance with the intention of providing better service delivery at the grass-root level.

Expressing satisfaction particularly at the progress of polio containment efforts, Azad said: “We are excited and hopeful, at the same time, vigilant and alert.”

The Health Initiative is an inter-agency umbrella organising mechanism for bilateral discussions between the US and India on health collaborations and program implementation.

The Indo-US collaboration has successfully taken place in the last several decades in the areas of medical research such as tuberculosis, nutrition, cancer, neurosciences, mental health, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, environmental and occupational health.

This collaboration has led to infrastructure strengthening, transfer of technology and publication of several scientific findings.