Puducherry: At the beginning of this academic year, there will be a total of five institutes in India MSc Public Health Entomology – A course for specialization in the study of vectors and vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue.
Regional Medical Research Centers in Gorakhpur and Dibrugarh, the Rajendra Memorial Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna, and the National Institute for Research in Tribal Health, Jabalpur, will all start offering courses, Dr Ashwini Kumar, director of the Vector Control Research Center (VCRC) in Puducherry told ThePrint.
VCRC under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is the only institute that offers the course at the moment.
vector borne diseases Huh Infection caused by bites of infected arthropod species, such as mosquitoes, ticks, triatomine bugs, sandflies and blackflies.
VCRC was established in 1975. It’s engaged”In basic and applied research with the primary objective of finding new methods for the control of vector-borne diseases and developing vector control strategies., according to its website,
The institute is offering the course since 2011.
The latest development will mean that the number of seats for the course will increase from 8 to 68. Doctors say that this will help in tackling the shortage of trained entomologists in India.
“Vector-borne diseases are not very difficult to control,” Kumar said.
“But the problem is that the municipal authorities only come into action when the disease is on the rise,” he said. “The problem is also that we do not have enough entomologists in the country. So from this year we are increasing our seats from 8 to 20 [also] Started in four other institutions.”
The plan is to eventually increase the total number of seats to 100.
In addition, the VCRC is now planning to make money by patenting its new equipment, Kumar said.
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‘Lack of trained entomologists’
Public health entomology focuses on the population biology of vector-borne infections, seeking to understand how such pathogens persist over time and ways to reduce the burden they impose on human health. try to develop. 2001 paper.
Scheme of National Vector Borne Disease Control Program for the appointment of entomologists – A person trained to study vectors and predict the public health effects of conditions conducive to their development. An assistant professor at VCRC, Dr. S. Sabesson told ThePrint that each of India’s now-755 districts are still on fire due to a lack of trained personnel.
With an annual budget of around Rs 43 crore, the Indian Council of Medical Research is the leading center for research on vectors in the country. It also houses a mosquito museum and a vast collection of vectors and pathogens.
Describing the role of an entomologist, Sabeson said: “We collaborate with multiple departments to predict and understand outbreaks. We regularly receive GIS data for vector density plotting from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and that data is validated by external agencies. You need a trained entomologist in the field to understand the difference between the footprint of similar or closely related vectors.”
patent application
Dr Kumar said that the VCRC has developed several scientific instruments for use in vector research in the field and in the laboratory.
These include contraceptives to capture, store, and kill mosquitoes, a larvicide that is now being manufactured commercially, and a protein gel plasmapheresis machine currently available on the market. Many of these patents are pending.
“For many years, we were told to stay away from any monetary transaction, but now we are asking our researchers to develop and patent new tools and earn money for the Indian government,” Kumar said. “The researcher will get 1-2 percent royalty.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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