India and the US are working together on combating the deadly coronavirus and collaboration is underway in the areas of diagnostics and therapeutics of the disease, which so far has taken the lives of more than 20,000 people globally, according to the Indian envoy here.
Under the existing bilateral collaboration in healthcare sector- the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in the US shared the important reagents with the Translational Health Science Technology Institute in Gurgaon.
Such cooperation is expected to play a big role in developing new therapeutics and testing reagents for the COVID-19. In addition, India-based vendors of American companies are in touch with the Indian Council of Medical Research to engage and enhance the capabilities for COVID-19 test in India.
“The US will work shoulder to shoulder with India to
combat the COVID19 outbreak. Together, we can safeguard our citizens and people
everywhere,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asia, Alice G Wells, said in a tweet referring to the cooperation between the
two countries.
In 2012, the Center for Disease Control
collaborated with National Centre for Disease Control to establish Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)
Programme.
This post-graduate field-training programme, modelled after
the CDC‘s Epidemic Intelligence
Service (EIS), has expanded to two additional hubs at the WHO India Country
Office and at the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National
Institute of Epidemiology.
According to the CDC, it has helped strengthen national
surveillance for detecting and responding to healthcare associated infections
and emerging antimicrobial resistance threats in health facilities in 22 states.
A public-private partnership helped increase capacity to
diagnose, treat, and care for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients through
virtual platforms. In Mumbai, the CDC helped the municipality and local
partners, launch an Airborne Infection Control Unit to reduce
healthcare-associated transmission of MDR-TB.
