The National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) is strengthening surveillance of dog bites in all states, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav toldthe Parliament on Tuesday.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Jadhav shared steps undertaken to strengthen rabies treatment in the country. “The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP), is undertaking strengthening of surveillance of all animal bites in all States/UTs. Data on dog and other animal bite cases and related deaths are reported by all States/UTs, through the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP),” Jadhav said.

States are provided with a budget for the implementation of the NRCP under the National Health Mission (NHM). “Funding includes capacity building of healthcare staff, procurement of rabies vaccines, printing of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials on rabies and dog-bite prevention, data entry support, review meetings, monitoring and surveillance, and establishment of Model Anti-Rabies Clinics and wound-washing facilities,” the Minister said.

Further, life-saving drugs such as Anti-Rabies Vaccine (ARV) and Anti-Rabies Serum (ARS)/Rabies Immunoglobulin (RIG) are provided free of cost in the public health facilities under the National Free Drug Initiative of NHM.

“These drugs are also included in both the National and State Essential Drug Lists. Also under the Central Sector component, the National Centre for Disease Control implements rabies control activities through awareness, lab strengthening, guidelines, and training materials, etc,” Jadhav said. He also informed that the National One Health programme is enhancing rabies diagnosis through vet labs across states.

“To strengthen involvement of the veterinary sector under the “National One Health Programme For Prevention and Control of Zoonosis” committees have been formed in all States and veterinary laboratories to strengthen diagnosis of animal Rabies,” the Minister said.

To create awareness among the public and healthcare professionals, dog bite protocols, IEC materials, and training videos on the management of animal bite/dog bite cases have been created and disseminated across the country, Jadhav stated. Meanwhile, animal activists nationwide have been protesting against the Supreme Court’s verdict to put all the stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR region into shelters.

The apex court had taken suo motu cognisance of the alarming rise in dog-bite incidents, including the recent death of a six-year-old child in Delhi following a stray dog attack. During hearings, the court observed that urgent intervention was required and directed sterilisation along with relocation of the canines to shelters.

However, the demonstrators have been stressing that the solution lies not in confinement but in scientific sterilisation drives, community awareness, and stricter implementation of pet ownership rules. They argue that mass relocation would only worsen the problem by straining resources and isolating the animals from communities that often care for and feed them.

-IANS

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Two new cases of polio have been detected in Pakistan, according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH). One polio case has been reported in Lower Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while another one has been detected in Sindh’s Badin district, local media reported on Monday.

The new cases include a six-year-old girl from Lower Kohistan’s Union Council Pattan and a 21-month-old girl from Union Council Matli-2, Badin, The News International reported. After the detection of these new cases, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan this year has reached 21, including 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six from Sindh, and one case each from Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children aged below five years, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). There is no cure for polio, however, it can only prevented by immunisation. The polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.

The continued detection of polio cases shows that children remain at risk in areas, where less number of people are ready to vaccinate their children. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where Wild Poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers have frequently been targetted in attacks, particularly in the northwest and southwest regions.

A Sub-National Polio Vaccination Campaign is scheduled to take place in Pakistan from September 1-7, targetting 28 million children under the age of five in 99 districts of all provinces and regions, as per the report. The polio vaccine campaign in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be conducted from September 15.

The campaign is aimed to ensure that every child in these district gets vaccinated to protect them from polio. This campaign is part of Pakistani authorities’ efforts to strengthen immunity among children against polio and close existing protection gaps. Parents and caregivers have been asked to ensure that children receive polio vaccine during the campaign.

Earlier on August 12, health authorities stated that Wild Poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was detected in sewage samples from 42 sites across Pakistan. As many as 127 sewage samples were collected from 87 districts during July, according to testing by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, Xinhua News Agency reported. Among these, 42 tested positive, 75 samples were negative while 10 are still under process.

-IANS

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Even as India celebrates a decade of being polio-free, experts on World Polio Day on Thursday said it is important to identify areas with low polio vaccination coverage to protect children from the devastating disease and pave the way for a healthy future.

World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24 every year to raise awareness about polio, a viral disease that mainly affects children under the age of five.

India has achieved a significant milestone in eradicating polio: The World Health Organization declared the country free of polio in 2014.

However, polio remains a threat, and the pace of the polio vaccine has also slowed down in India, with the coverage levels being poorest in the north-east, as seen in recent data from the National Family Health Survey.

This is also reflected in the recent case in August, where a two-year-old child in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district was confirmed to have a case of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV).

Earlier in 2022, an immunodeficiency-related vaccine-derived poliovirus (iVDPV) specimen was detected in Kolkata through routine surveillance, though this did not equate to a case of polio in the area.

“Given the high vaccination coverage in India, these detections do not result in increased polio cases. However, there is concern that if vaccination rates decline, the polio viruses could re-enter the population and cause disease. Therefore, it is crucial to identify areas with low vaccination coverage and take corrective action,” Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Chairman of the Kerala State IMA Research Cell, told IANS.

“While India has been polio-free for 10 years, we must remain vigilant, especially with the virus still present in neighbouring countries,” said Deepak Kapur, Chairman of Rotary International’s India National PolioPlus Committee (RI-INPPC), at an event on Thursday.

“With only two endemic countries remaining — Pakistan and Afghanistan — we can finally see the silver lining on the horizon. Therefore, we keep our focus on immunisation,” he added.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), launched in 1988, efficiently reduced over 99.9 per cent of polio cases and eradicated wild poliovirus (WPV) types 2 and 3.

“India has achieved significant milestones in polio eradication within the last twenty years. However, the fight is still on as some sensibilities remain because of poor healthcare facilities, reluctance to vaccination, and socio-economic factors,” Dr Parimala V Thirumalesh, Sr. Consultant – Neonatology &Pediatrics, Aster CMI Hospital, Bengaluru, told IANS.

Constant improvement in surveillance, vaccination coverage, and community involvement continues to be crucial in the fight against polio, which can be transmitted via eating or drinking contaminated substances and lead to partial paralysis and even death.

“We must remain vigilant as challenges persist, particularly in regions where vaccine-derived polio remains a threat. We must innovate and adapt our strategies to reach the most vulnerable populations. Empowering local health workers is vital, as they are key to building trust within communities and addressing vaccine hesitancy,” Dr Ritesh Yadav, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Paras Health, Gurugram, told IANS.

–IANS

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India on Thursday (October 21) crossed a milestone administering over 1 billion COVID-19 vaccinations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to congratulate the health workers on achieving the feat.

India scripts history.

We are witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians.

Congrats India on crossing 100 crore vaccinations. Gratitude to our doctors, nurses and all those who worked to achieve this feat. #VaccineCentury

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 21, 2021

India’s COVID-19 Vaccination drive, the world’s largest vaccination drive so far, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16^th January 2021.

In Phase I of the vaccination drive, started 130 days ago on 16^th January, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) prioritized Health Care Workers, and Front Line Workers (both government & private sector). Phase II of the vaccination drive started from 1^st March 202, focused on protecting the most vulnerable age groups. These prioritized age-groups included persons above 60 years of age and persons above 45 years with associated specified co-morbidities. This was further relaxed to all people above 45 years of age on 1^st April 2021. In Phase III, ‘Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy’ was adopted on 1^st May 2021. Under this strategy, everyone above 18 years of age are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Recently, Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 has granted emergency use approval to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children in the 2-18 years age group.

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After India decided to reciprocate quarantine to UK travellers, the United Kingdom has now said that Indians who are fully vaccinated with Covishield or any other UK-approved vaccine travelling will not have to undergo quarantine from Monday (11 October), British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, said on Thursday (7 October).

Ellis tweeted, “No quarantine for Indian travellers to United Kingdom fully vaccinated with Covishield or other UK-approved vaccines from October 11. Thanks to Indian government for close cooperation over last month.”

Earlier last month, a UK travel advisory had made 10-day quarantine mandatory for Indian travellers, even those who have received both doses of Covishield which is the same as the AstraZeneca manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

However, this decision was seen as a vestige of colonialism and now from UK government has said, “Formulations of the listed vaccines — Astra Zeneca Covishield, Astra Zeneca Vaxzevira and Moderna Takeda — qualify as approved vaccines.”

However, those in India who took Covixin still needed to go for quarantine in UK as the country did not recognise the Indian vaccine certificates.

On Thursday, the UK government released a statement in which it announced the removal of 47 countries and territories from the ‘Red List’.

It also announced that from Monday (11 October), eligible travellers vaccinated in over 37 new countries and territories including Brazil, Ghana, Hong Kong and India “will also be treated the same as returning fully vaccinated UK residents, so long as they have not visited a red list country or territory in the 10 days before arriving in England”.

“The measures announced today mark the next step as we continue to open up travel and provide stability for passengers and industry while remaining on track to keep travel open for good,” Britain’s Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, tweeted.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today addressed the CoWin Global Conclave as India offered CoWIN platform as a digital public good to the world to combat COVID19.

The Prime Minister began with conveying his condolences for all the lives lost to the pandemic, in all the countries. The Prime Minister remarked that there is no parallel to such a pandemic in hundred years and no nation, however powerful, can solve a challenge like this in isolation. “The biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that for humanity and the human cause, we have to work together and move ahead together. We have to learn from each other and guide each other about our best practices” said the Prime Minister.

Underlining India’s Commitment for sharing experiences, expertise and resources with the global community, the Prime Minister also expressed India’s eagerness to learn from global practices. Emphasizing the importance of technology in the fight against pandemic PM Modi said that software is one area in which there are no resource constraints. That’s why India made its Covid tracking and tracing App open source as soon as it was technically feasible. He pointed out that with nearly 200 million users, the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app is a readily available package for developers. Having been used in India, the Prime Minister told the global audience, you can be sure that it has been tested in the real world for speed and scale.

The Prime Minister said that given the importance of vaccination, India decided to adopt a completely digital approach while planning its vaccination strategy. This helps people in proving that they have been vaccinated, expediting the normalcy in the post pandemic globalized world. A safe, secure and trustworthy proof helps people to establish when, where and by whom they have been vaccinated. Digital approach also helps in tracking the usage of vaccination and minimizes the wastage.

In line with India’s philosophy of considering the whole world as one family, the Prime Minister said, Covid vaccination platform CoWin is being prepared to be made open source. Soon, it will be available to any and all countries.

PM Modi stressed that today’s Conclave is the first step to introduce this platform to the global audience. The Prime Minister informed that through CoWin, India has administered 350 million doses of Covid vaccines, including 9 million people in one day, few days ago. Furthermore, vaccinated people do not need to carry around fragile pieces of paper to prove anything. It is all available in digital format. The Prime Minister also highlighted the customizability to the software as per the local requirements of the interested countries. The Prime Minister concluded with the hope that guided by the approach of ‘One Earth, One Health’, humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic.

(Published from PIB)

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As the rest of India is again coming out of a lockdown and the third wave of the coronavirus is in its last legs, the chairman of the government’s Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration (EGVAC), RS Sharma has said that the daily vaccinations will go up to five million doses within the next ten days, reports Economic Times.

“We are already vaccinating 3.5 million people every day. I am very sure we will reach five million in a matter of 10 days.” Sharma was quoted as saying

This is indeed great news for Indians as the number of people getting vaccinated daily will now increase just days before the roll-out of the new vaccination strategy wherein the Centre will resume the process of buying and supplying COVID-19 vaccines to the state governments for free of cost.

Sharma also emphasised the need for the state and the private hospitals to indicate vaccine slots for a week to ensure that the daily inoculations go up.

Sharma said, “From the beginning of the vaccination drive we have been emphasising that the states need to publish as long a timetable as possible. The Centre is also giving visibility of vaccine supplies to the states a fortnight ahead. So the states can publish the vaccine slots. But some states are still not doing it.”

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Several myths on India’s Covid-19 vaccination program are doing the rounds. These myths are arising due to distorted statements, half truths and blatant lies.

Member (Health) in NITI Aayog and Chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) Dr Vinod Paul addresses these myths and gives out facts on all these issues.

Here are the myths & facts.

Myth 1: Centre is not doing enough to buy vaccines from abroad

Fact: The Central Government has remained engaged continuously with all the major international vaccine manufacturers right from mid-2020. Multiple rounds of discussions have happened with Pfizer, J&J & Moderna. Government offered all assistance to have them supply and /or manufacture their vaccines in India. However, it is not that their vaccines are available in free supply. We need to understand that buying vaccines internationally is not similar to buying ‘off the shelf’ items. Vaccines are in limited supply globally, and companies have their own priorities, game-plans and compulsions in allocating finite stocks. They also give preference to countries of their origin just as our own vaccine makers have done unhesitatingly for us. As soon as Pfizer indicated vaccine availability, Central Government and the company are working together for the earliest possible import of the vaccine. As a result of GoI’s efforts, Sputnik vaccine trials got accelerated and  with timely approval, Russia has already sent two tranches of vaccines & accomplishedtech-transfer to our companies that would start manufacturing very soon. We reiterate our request to all international vaccine makers to come and make in India – for India and for the world.

Myth 2: Centre has not approved vaccines available globally

Fact: The Central Government has proactively eased entry of vaccines approved by US FDA, EMA, UK’s MHRA and Japan’s PMDA, and WHO’s Emergency Use Listing into India in April. These vaccines will not need to undergo prior bridging trials. The provision has now been further amended to waive off the trial requirement altogether for the well-established vaccines manufactured in other countries. No application of any foreign manufacturer for approval is pending with the drugs controller.

Myth 3: Centre is not doing enough to ramp up domestic production of vaccines

Fact: The Central Government is playing the role of an effective facilitator to enable more companies to produce vaccines from the early 2020. There is only 1 Indian company (Bharat Biotech) which has the IP. GoI has ensured that 3 other companies/plants will start production of Covaxin apart from enhancing Bharat Biotech’s own plants, which have increased from 1 to 4. Covaxin production by Bharat Biotech is being increased from under 1 Cr per month to 10 Cr month by October.  Additionally, the three PSUs will together aim to produce upto 4.0 Cr doses by December. With constant encouragement of the Government, Serum Institute is ramping up Covishield production of 6.5 crore doses per month to 11.0 crore doses per month. GoI is also ensuring in partnership with Russia that Sputnik will be manufactured by 6 companies coordinated by Dr Reddy’s. The Union Government is supporting efforts of Zydus Cadila, BioE as well Gennova for their respective indigenous  vaccines through liberal funding under Covid Suraksha scheme as also the technical support at national laboratories. Development of Bharat Biotech’s single dose intranasal vaccine is proceeding well with GoI funding, and it could be a game-changer for the world. The estimate of production of over 200  crore doses by our vaccine industry by the end of 2021 is the result of such efforts and unstinted support and partnership. How many countries can even dream of such an enormous capacity, and that too across conventional as well as cutting-edge DNA and mRNA platforms? GoI and vaccine manufacturers have worked as one Team India in this mission with seamless engagement on daily basis.

Myth 4: Centre should invoke compulsory licensing

Fact: Compulsory Licensing is not a very attractive option since it is not a ‘formula’ that matters, but active partnership, training of human resources, sourcing of raw materials and highest levels of bio-safety labs which is required. Tech transfer is the key and that remains in the hands of the company that has carried out R&D. Infact, we have gone one step ahead of Compulsory Licensing and are ensuring active partnership between Bharat Biotech & 3 other entities to enhance production of Covaxin. Similar mechanism is being followed for Sputnik. Think about this: Moderna had said in October 2020 that it will not sue any company which makes its vaccines, but still not one company has done it, which shows licensing is the least of the issues. If vaccine-making was so easy, why would even the developed world be so short of vaccine doses?

Myth 5: Centre has abdicated its responsibility to the states

Fact:The Central Government is doing all the heavy-lifting, from funding vaccine manufacturers to giving them quick approvals to ramping up production to bringing foreign vaccines to India. The vaccine procured by the Centre is supplied wholly to the states for free administration to people.  All this is very much in the knowledge of the states. GoI has merely enabled states to try procuring vaccines on their own, on their explicit requests. The states very well knew the production capacity in the country and what the difficulties are in procuring vaccines directly from abroad. In fact, GoI ran the entire vaccine program from January to April & it was quite well-administrated compared to the situation in May. But states, who had not even achieved good coverage of healthcare workers and frontline workers in 3 months wanted to open up the process of vaccination and wanted more decentralisation. Health is a state subject & the liberalised vaccine policy was a result of the incessant requests being made by the states to give states more power. The fact that global tenders have not given any results only reaffirm what we have been telling the states from day one: that vaccines are in short supply in the world and it is not easy to procure them at short notice.

Myth 6: Centre is not giving enough vaccines to the states

Fact: Centre is allotting enough vaccines to the states in a transparent manner as per agreed guidelines. In fact, states are also being informed in advance of the vaccine availability. Vaccine availability is going to increase in near future and much more supply would be possible. In the non-GoI channel, states are getting 25% of the doses and private hospitals are getting 25% doses. However the hiccups and issues faced by the people in the administration of these 25% doses by the states leave a lot to be desired. The behaviour of some of our leaders, who in spite of full knowledge of the facts on vaccine supply, appear on TV daily and create panic among the people is very unfortunate. This is not the time to play politics. We need everyone to unite in this fight.

Myth 7: Centre is not taking any step to vaccinate children

Fact: As of now, no country in the world is giving vaccines to children. Also, WHO has no recommendation on vaccinating children. There have been studies about safety of vaccines in children,which have been encouraging. Trials in children in India are also going to begin soon. However, vaccinating children should not be decided on the basis of panic in Whatsapp groups and because some politicians want to play politics. It has to be a decision taken by our scientists after adequate data is available based on trials.

Published from PIB

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Gopi Shankar Madurai, the Southern Representative of the National Council for Transgender Persons has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to address the discrimination faced by transgender persons in getting treatment for COVID19 as well as access to vaccines.

In his letter, Gopi said that the pandemic has wrecked the lives and livelihoods of transgender and intersex people adding that it was not possible for them to get quality healthcare anyway.

“During the second wave, I have received several complaints from transgender people across different states of South India highlighting the discrimination faced by them while getting treatment for COVID-19. They are being subjected to discrimination from doctors as they are not getting the required medical attention. There have been several news reports regarding the same. Further, it is also important to take note of the health needs of transgender people living with serious diseases and ensure that their access to medicine is not impaired.” Gopi said in his letter.

He urged the CM to allocate 5 beds exclusively for transgenders in each district citing Section 16 (f) of the Transgender Persons Act, 2019 which mandates the government to facilitate access to transgender persons in hospitals and other healthcare institutions and centres.

He also asked the CM to arrange special vaccination drives for transgender people drawing attention to the fact that there is little or no awareness among the transgender community regarding vaccination.

“Your action today will determine how many transgender people will be able to get the much-needed medical attention and will be vaccinated and this at a time when a solidaristic, humanitarian and accountable response is being called for to save people and their futures.”, Gopi said concluding his letter.

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