Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya virtually laid the foundation stone for the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Regional Branch in Assam on Tuesday.
The NCDC regional branch is set to be established at Rani in Kamrup Rural district and will play a significant role in supporting disease surveillance and monitoring.
Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta, MP Queen Oja (Assam), MLA Hemanga Thakuria were among others present at the virtual foundation laying ceremony.
Along with this, the Union health minister also laid the foundation stones of six other state branches in Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal and Mizoram; and BSL-3 labs in Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand virtually at the NCDC in New Delhi.
Apart from this, Mandaviya also inaugurated a temporary NCDC Regional branch in Bhopal. These new NCDC branches and BSL-3 labs will strengthen the country’s capacity for Pandemic preparedness and disease surveillance with One Health approach. He also dedicated the auditorium and Library block as a part of Upgraded NCDC, Delhi to the nation and released several technical documents.
Expressing his elation at the event, Dr. Mandaviya said that these regional branches of NCDC will help in combating diseases with regional variations like CCHF, KFD, Scrub typhus.
“The health infrastructure facilities inaugurated today, or for those whose foundation stone has been laid, will substantially boost our regional, district and block level healthcare infrastructure and will further augment the surveillance, diagnostics and public health preparedness and response capacity for any impending outbreak or pandemic in future”, he said.
The Union Health Minister said that “pandemic preparedness and disease surveillance anchored in strong health systems that reach all people, especially the most vulnerable, are crucial to ensure better protection from major disease outbreaks.”
Emphasizing that these institutions under NCDC will be in the interest of the local populace, he stated that “the Government of India is committed towards strengthening the surveillance of infectious diseases and outbreak response through the strengthening of NCDC”.
Dr. Mandaviya commended the efforts of state governments for taking these initiatives forward and emphasized the need for collective and collaborative efforts between the Centre and States to enhance the country’s capacity in tackling future Pandemics. He also cautioned all the stakeholders of any slack in performing their duty.
