Lok Sabha Question No. 848 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-23
Subject: Neglected Tropical Diseases
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shyam Yadav Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA U NSTARRED QUESTION NO. 848 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD JULY, 2021

## NEGLECTED TROPICAL D ISEASES

## 848. SHRI SHYAM SING H YADAV:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  that India  leads  the  world  in  terms  of  the  total number of cases for each of the major neglected tropical iseases;

(b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  steps  taken  by theGovernment  to  reduce  the  burden  of neglected tropical diseases by utilizing biotechnology to build tools and technologies to combat such neglected tropical diseases; and

(c) the details of public -private partnerships being carried out for producing vaccine s for such neglected such diseases?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR . BHARATI PRAVIN PAW AR )

(a): There are multiple diseases falling under NTDs which are a public health problem.

Gu i nea Worm Disease is decl ar ed era di cat ed from I ndi a si nce 2000 & re gul ar GWD surv eilla nce is m ai nt ai ned by e ndemic di stri cts/ states and i f any r um our case isr eport ed, the same isi nvest i gat ed.

Amongst other diseases, India has high prevalence of Lymphat i c Filariasis (LF) whereas Kal a- Azar ( KA) has re duced toa le velofal m ostel imi nat io n.

MoHFW al s o deals wit h dengue&  Soil trans m itt ed hel m in t hic (ST H )  inf ecti ons am ong WHO  e nlis t ed N TDs. MoHFW conducts regular survey in phased manner across the country to estimate the prevalence of Soil transmitted helminthic (STH) infections usin Katz thick smear microscopy technique.

For pr event i on  a nd cont r ol of R abi es,M i nist ry has la unched  Natio nalRabiesContr ol Progr am.

(b):Biotechnology is being utilized in research and development efforts to address negl tropical  diseases  such  as  Dengue,  Chikungunya,  Rabies,  Trachoma,  Leprosy,  Leishmaniasi Filariasis and snakebite envenoming.

This  encompasses  support  to  projects  in  the  areas  of  understanding  disease  biol developing  newer  diagnostics,  therapeutics  and  vaccines  to  tackle  these  neglected  tr diseases.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public S ector Undertaking  (PSU)  of  Department  of  Biotechnology  through  its  regular  programs  li Biotechnology  Industry  Partnership  program  (BIPP),  Small  Business  Innovation  Researc Initiative  (SBIRI),  Promoting  Academic  Research  Convergence  to  Enterprise  (PACE)a nd missions  like  National  Biopharma  mission  (NBM)  and  Coalition  For  Epidemic  Preparedness Innovations(Ind - CEPI)has also taken steps to reduce the burden of neglected tropical disease funding projects for the development of tools and technologies.

(c):Under  the  National  Biopharma  Mission  (NBM), International Centre for Genetic Engineering  and  Biotechnology  (ICGEB),  New  Delhi  in  collaboration  with  Sun  Pharma  is developing a sub - unit dengue vaccine candidate (DSV4). A live attenuated tetravalent Dengu Vaccine candidate TV003/TV005 licensed from National Institute of Health (NIH) is also b developed under NBM by Indian Immunologicals Pvt Ltd. Under the Ind -CEPI Mission, 'Global Chikungunya  Vaccine  Clinical  Development  Program'  (GCCDP),  a  collaboration between Bharat  Biotech  International  Limited  (BBIL)  and  the  International  Vaccine  Institute  (I being  supported  to  advance  the  development  of  a  novel  inactivated  vaccine  candidate for Chikungunya (CHIKV), BBV87.