India and nine Southeast Asian countries have decided to unite under the World Health Organization – Southeast Asia Regional Organization (WHO-SEARO) to combat the menace of emerging diseases across the globe.
“The research platform will receive technical support from WHO, which will also act as coordinator,” Dr R R Gangakhedkar, director of epidemic diseases on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), told Hindustan Times.
Due to increased mobility and migration, epidemic disease patterns have gotten kind of similar in countries that share borders, he added.
Citing the instance of the Zika virus infection which was prevented from spreading, he said India has taken the lead on this initiative to raised understand these issues.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia, DPR Korea, Myanmar and Nepal are the nine countries that collaborated with India on this mission.
“Given India’s success in containing international epidemics such as Zika and Nipah virus infections, Asian countries have decided to unite forces and chose India to lead the initiative. India (ICMR) will now be the secretariat; later, other countries will also get a chance,” HT quoted a senior ICMR official as saying.
In cooperation with WHO, the project “RESEARCH – a regional enabler of research collaboration for health in Southeast Asia” was launched on August 29 and might be implemented in nine other countries within the region.
Source : News18.com
