New Delhi: ‘One Health’ – an integrated approach that looks at humans, animals and the environment for disease monitoring and prevention – is one of the first missions launched by newly appointed Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) Dr Ajay K. The focus will be on Sood.
In an exclusive interview with ThePrint, Sood said that six ministries, including the ministries of science, health, animal husbandry and environment, have started discussions to address the gaps in India’s disease surveillance system.
“One Health is an integrated approach to look at humans, wildlife and the environment as a whole, and not in a fragmented manner, as there is an interdependence between them. We know from the experience of COVID how infections can be transmitted from animals to humans So, it is a very connected system,” he said.
‘one health’, as defined It is an approach by the US One Health Initiative Task Force to encourage “collaborative efforts across multiple disciplines working locally, nationally and globally to achieve optimal health for people, animals and our environment”. It is a concept that is gaining recognition not only in India but also in many other countries.
Rather than just testing humans during disease outbreaks, the OneHealth approach will monitor wildlife and the environment for pathogens or other factors that directly or indirectly affect our health.
Speaking to ThePrint, Dr Sindura Ganapathi, a scientist at the PSA office, further explained that if a pathogen affects livestock or even a crop, it affects the food security of humans.
“So, it is not enough to monitor human health. We are looking at all these subsystems separately,” Sood said.
“We held discussions with six ministries who have been working on this for many years. We are trying to see what are the flaws in this integrated approach – it is something that is spread across different ministries, different species and different countries.”
Sood said that all the concerned ministries are already working independently on various aspects of One Health.
“So, we don’t really have to start from scratch,” he said. “Our intention is to identify the gap and see if the mission approach can bridge it.”
‘Digital network needed’
Sood informed that Karnataka and Uttarakhand have already started One Health Mission.
“We have to see if our surveillance is foolproof. Suppose there is a case somewhere, we have to see if we have complete digital infrastructure,” he said.
Sood told ThePrint that the mission would also address the question of how information about a new potentially disease-causing pathogen would be communicated, stakeholders to be identified and who should be in the loop.
“Under this mission all digital networks will be set up so that there is no gap in understanding of what is happening and how to take action,” he said. “Once that happens, we also have to look at treatment modalities. Is this something new for which we have to develop a vaccine? Are we ready for a vaccine platform such as an mRNA vaccine or a CRISPR-based vaccine platform?
Sood also said that addressing misinformation was an integral part of the exercise. “Communication with the public is very important, it should not publicize anything or hide anything,” he said. “This is possible only when we are clear in our minds about what is to be communicated. So that it does not create unreasonable panic, but also is not so monotonous and monotonous that people do not notice.
‘Build the right ecosystem for deep tech start-ups’
Apart from OneHealth, Sood’s office is also working towards enhancing the research ecosystem for deep tech start-ups.
“The country’s strength will grow when we are leaders in deep tech start-ups. Advanced materials science are those which will play a vital role in developing the wealth of the nation,” the new PSA said.
The role of a deep tech start-up would be to understand the critical properties of new materials and then apply them to design new technologies, he said, citing the example of graphene, a material that is part of many engineering applications due to its Became. unique properties.
“That’s what we are discussing right now – how do we create the right ecosystem for deep tech start-ups. What are the policy decisions that need to be taken, what are the things that our researchers will need,” Sood he said.
“For example, a deep tech start-up requires a lot of expensive equipment and not every start-up can immediately invest in all of that. Our office has started i-STEM PortalWhich is being hosted by the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru,” he said.
The portal allows anyone to access government-funded scientific instruments at a nominal cost.
(Edited by Jinnia Ray Chowdhury)