 "Centre planning enhanced zoonotic disease surveillance: Health secretary")
The Centre is planning to have augmented zoonotic diseases surveillance at the human-wildlife interface. Union Health Secretary Sudarshan Pant on Monday highlighted that 75 per cent of newly emerging infectious diseases that have affected people over the last three decades are zoonotic in nature.
This comes after recent outbreaks of zoonotic diseases like Nipah, Zika, and Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle and the constant threat of Avian Influenza have been discovered in various parts of India. Speaking on the latest occurrences of such diseases, Pant said that a better understanding of specific drivers and mechanisms of zoonotic disease is crucial to preparing for future disease outbreaks.
India, with its diverse wildlife, one of the largest livestock populations, and high-density of human population, carries heightened risks for inter-compartmental spread of diseases at the human-wildlife interface.
Underlining the impact of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, Pant said that it is important to address diseases from both a human and animal perspective, as most emerging infectious diseases are a result of changing human-animal interface and their shared environment.
"This interconnectedness highlights the need for a One Health approach, which helps in leveraging the complementarity and strengths that are inherent in each sector and devising integrated, robust, and agile response systems," he added.
To address this issue, the Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) in July 2022 came up with the National One Health Mission, a cross-ministerial effort set up to review areas of focus from a human health standpoint as well as livestock and wildlife aspects.
Highlighting the various "One Health" efforts undertaken by the union government, Pant said that the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its various technical divisions has been entrusted to undertake activities pertaining to pandemic preparedness likely to emerge from zoonotic threats at the human, animal, and environmental interface.