The Union government has decided to set up a Delhi-based National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) branch in each state to effectively monitor the outbreak and reduce response time, people familiar with the matter said. This is to strengthen disease surveillance in each state as everything should not come to the central level,” said SK Singh, director, NCDC. “This step not only improves surveillance but also increases response time and measures including diagnostic capabilities.”
Currently, there are 33 disease states that are already being monitored at the national level, Singh said. “We also need to monitor new and emerging diseases that require a robust surveillance system. When dealing with an outbreak, the time that we will be able to save is essential if adequately equipped centers are available locally,” he added. Currently, there are eight functional branches of NCDC and the Center is planning to set up 22 more branches.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on September 7 laid the foundation stone for six new branches that will be fully operational in the next two to three years. Disease surveillance plays a key role in disease prevention, control and treatment. For this, regional branches of NCDC will pay a key portion,” Mandaviya said during the ceremony. “They will provide public health infrastructure support with rapid surveillance, rapid detection and monitoring of disease, enabling early intervention.”
The Center under Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission has sanctioned ₹64,000 crore for various health infrastructure projects. Six new branches are being built in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The current Covid-19 pandemic has shown us the importance of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases that not only cause localized outbreaks, but can also lead to pandemics. NCDC branches in states and UTs will support state governments in early surveillance and monitoring of diseases. These will enable early warning leading to early intervention based on evidence collected in the field,” said the minister.
The state branches will coordinate with the NCDC headquarters in New Delhi to share real-time data and information using state-of-the-art technology. NCDC branches would also be critical in ensuring timely availability of updated guidelines so that accurate science-based information can be easily disseminated.
The current branches will also be redesigned and jointly carry out integrated disease surveillance activities focusing on antimicrobial resistance, multi-sectoral and entomological investigations (relating to insects), etc. The Minister of Health also inaugurated NCDC Laboratory Block 1, the so-called National Program Residential Complex and Research Laboratory for vector-borne disease control. The NCDC laboratory block will house state-of-the-art testing and reference laboratories for public health bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic diseases.
It is equipped with 50 high-capacity laboratories — 30 biosafety level 3 laboratories, five RT-PCR laboratories and 15 other laboratories. The laboratories will be designed to offer not only testing facilities but also provide hands-on training, capacity building and quality assurance services for the entire network of laboratories across the country. There has been a shift from a ‘token’ to a ‘total’ approach where states are our partners in the spirit of collaborative and cooperative federalism to ensure quality, accessible and affordable health care for all,” said the Minister of Health.
