‘Need greater collaboration in healthcare’ IANS / Updated: May 21, 2021, 06:00 IST impact of Union health minister NEWDELHI COVID-19 has taught that preparedness costs are only a fraction of the impact of a pandemic, but the returns on this investment are exponential, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan(in pic) said. The minister also underlined the need for greater collaboration between countries on various aspects of healthcare during his virtual address to a conference on “COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for Health Security and Peace in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region” on Wednesday. “We must admit that in such times of global crisis, both risk management and mitigation would require further deepening of global partnerships to re-energize interest and investment in global public health,” he said while revisiting the one-year impact of the novel coronavirus since the disease was declared a public health emergency of international concern.