Table 2.

Implications of SOTA care access across multiple SAARC areas of cooperation (170).

SAARC area of cooperation	SOTA care connections
Human resource development and tourism	Keeping with the region’s needs (see text), SAARC Tourism Ministers should be made aware of the expanding SOTA care tourism to improve access. Building on past bodies, SAARC should introduce dedicated apex and recognized bodies for the umbrella concept of SOTA care. The meeting of SAARC Cabinet Secretaries can include an agenda item on the role of SOTA care in social development.
Agriculture and rural development	Improving SOTA care access for those living in rural and remote regions should be prioritized as a public health issue in this area. The SAARC Development Fund should include scaling up SOTA care infrastructure, including the SAO workforce in rural regions. The quantity and quality of scale-up should be in line with population needs. SOTA care needs of those working in agriculture in rural regions require highlighting. E.g., the burden of specific risk factors and injuries among agricultural workers, financial risk protection in case of care-seeking, etc. Agriculture and Rural Development ministries should be made aware of SOTA care issues that impact their constituents.
Environment, natural disasters, and biotechnology	Delivering SOTA care services have a large environmental impact. SAARC environment and climate change action plans, statements, declarations, conventions, etc. should include assessments of the environmental impact of SOTA care delivery and mitigation and sustainable scale-up strategies. Mass casualties and injuries are unavoidable in natural disasters. Essential SOTA care services should be an integral part of any disaster management or response planning. SOTA care innovations such as low-cost surgical equipment and pain management drugs are integral to medical biotechnology and should be discussed in the Working Group on Biotechnology meetings for inclusion in the National State-of-the-Art Reports on Biotechnology from SAARC.
Economy, trade, and finance	SAARC’s efforts to reduce/remove trade barriers, improve trade facilitation, and enhance investment cooperation should include SOTA care technical innovations and services. SAARC’s focus on enhanced intra-regional investment for improving connectivity by roads, rail, waterways, etc. should include timely geographical access to SOTA care under indirect benefits to strengthen the agenda. Finance ministries should be made aware of the economic and societal benefits of scaling up SOTA care.
Social affairs	Access to SOTA care can improve population health outcomes. Hence, establishing a center for SOTA care, including it in SAARC Health Ministers’ meetings, and integrating it into projects such as the telemedicine network project should be urgently considered (see text for details).
Information and poverty alleviation	SAARC’s initiatives for poverty alleviation must note the high risk for impoverishment among healthcare seekers with a special focus on SOTA care. SAARC’s focus on universalizing telecommunication access should include the spillover impact on tele- and mobile-health interventions that can benefit SOTA care to strengthen the agenda.
Energy, transport, science, and technology	SAARC Transport Ministers should be made aware of the SOTA care geographical inaccessibility issues to ensure inclusion in the high-level meetings. SOTA care innovations should be highlighted in initiatives for industrial research and development and included on a priority basis in mechanisms for intellectual property rights. To reduce inequities in access, SAARC visa liberalization schemes should consider including SOTA care providers.