Dr. Joseph Sunny recently had the honor of participating as a panelist at the Policy and Practice Forum: Approaches to Delivering Disability-Inclusive Virtual Healthcare, hosted by the VirtueCare Network at the Melbourne Global Centre in New Delhi. The event, part of the Asia and Pacific Outlook Series, focused on enhancing the inclusivity of virtual healthcare in India. Dr. Sunny had the privilege of connecting with esteemed colleagues including Carly Partridge, Minister Counsellor at the Australian High Commission in India; Professor Nathan Grills, Senior Research Advisor at the Australia-India Institute and Public Health Physician; Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, IAS, Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India; Dr. Muhammad Ashil, National Professional Officer at WHO, New Delhi; and Associate Professor Emma George, Program Director of Occupational Therapy at the University of Adelaide.

The forum showcased the VirtuCare Project, which aims to improve virtual healthcare for people with disabilities by building on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. This project involves collaboration between the University of Melbourne, E-Sanjeevani, The George Institute for Global Health, and other key partners to develop inclusive virtual healthcare solutions. Dr. Sunny is excited about the potential impact of these discussions on the future of disability-inclusive healthcare.