(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) To make health accessible, it must be made affordable, and that begins by treating it as a service, not a business, Union Labour and Employment Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday.

Mandaviya said that for the world, health may be commerce, but for India, it is service, and service is our 'sanskaar'.

He recalled the efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that India's healthcare workers embodied this spirit by prioritising service above everything else.

“During Covid, our healthcare workers embodied this spirit. When service, not profit, drives healthcare, it reaches the last mile," Mandaviya said at the World Health Summit (WHS) Regional Meeting 2025 here.

Mandaviya, who is also the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, stressed that treating health as a service is key to ensuring it reaches every citizen.

The World Health Summit is being hosted in India for the first time. The event is focused on the theme 'Scaling Access to Ensure Health Equity' and aims to find innovative, inclusive, and sustainable ways to achieve health for all.

India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant called this period "India's health decade" and said that as India grows into a $30 trillion economy by 2047, human development and better quality of life will be central.

"India will grow from a $4 trillion to a $30 trillion economy by 2047, driven by human development and better quality of life, with health at its core. This is not just India's digital decade; it's India's health decade," he said.

He highlighted efforts to build an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient health-tech ecosystem.

MP and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur said it was a proud moment that the summit was being hosted in India.

He underlined that India has made significant progress in making healthcare citizen-centric and that healthcare will be crucial as the country moves towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.

"India, with over 1.43 billion people, has made bold strides to democratise healthcare - moving from selective interventions to a citizen-centric model rooted in financial protection and primary care. As we aim to become a developed nation by 2047, healthcare will remain central to our journey," Thakur said.

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