
India looks to overhaul disease outbreak response with a regional push
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: With infectious disease outbreaks becoming more frequent and complex, the Union government is recasting its approach to how India detects, tracks and contains communicable diseases, and the upcoming Union budget could mark a decisive shift.
The Centre is weighing a revamp of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), as part of a broader effort to decentralize outbreak response and reduce diagnostic delays, said two officials aware of the deliberations within the government. The plan entails a makeover of NCDC by setting up five new regional offices, 20 new metropolitan surveillance units, and 27 new state regional centres of India's apex public health institute.
The proposals under the upcoming new iteration of the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) aim to ensure a decentralized response to disease outbreaks. Under the plan, 10 new biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) laboratories will be set up to enable advanced diagnostics at the field-level to counter pandemics.
The plan entails setting up special units to handle health security in crowded cities by focusing on sanitation and overcrowding. It gives NCDC full responsibility for frontline service delivery and collecting evidence, conducting field surveillance, while the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) would focus on medical research.
BSL-3 laboratories are high-containment facilities to prevent the escape of airborne pathogens are an intrinsic part of a nation's strategy for detection and surveillance of emerging diseases and viruses. India has 35 BSL-3 laboratories run by NCDC, ICMR, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research
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