Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, on Tuesday, virtually laid the foundation stone for National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Regional Branch in Assam, State branches in six States (Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal and Mizoram) and BSL-3 labs in 2 States (Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand). He also inaugurated a temporary NCDC Regional branch in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Dr Mandaviya, in his address, said that these regional branches of NCDC will help in combating diseases with regional variations like CCHF, KFD, Scrub typhus. Further, State branches of NCDC and BSL-3 laboratory once functional will augment the capacity of region/state for preparedness and response especially for outbreak prone diseases by high-risk pathogens. Emphasizing that these institutions under National Centre for Disease Control will be in the interest of the local populace, he stated that “the Government of India is committed towards strengthening the surveillance of infectious diseases and outbreak response through strengthening of NCDC”.

The Union Health Minister lauded NCDC for being at the forefront in instituting containment measures including community surveillance, contact tracing and response in coordination with the State and local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He compared healthcare professionals and practitioners to defence forces. “They can never be in a complacent mood. They have to always be on the alert. There can be no lean period for our healthcare army, we have to strengthen and sharpen our skills for timely surveillance and disease detection,” Dr Mandaviya said.

He further informed that the government has planned to establish 30 NCDC state branches, 5 NCDC regional branches and 10 BSL-3 laboratories in phase-wise manner for decentralizing the presence of National Centre for Disease Control. He further said that NCDC’s decentralised presence will boost the capability of states to respond to the state specific public health challenges both for communicable, non-communicable diseases and One Health needs.

Dr Mandaviya commended the efforts of state governments for taking these initiatives forward and emphasized the need for collective and collaborative efforts between the Centre and States to enhance the country’s capacity in tackling future Pandemics. He also cautioned all the stakeholders of any slack in performing their duty.

During the event, the Union Health Minister also dedicated Auditorium and Library block as a part of Upgraded National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi to the nation and released several technical documents including:

1. IDSP, NCDC Digital release- “Community reporting tool on IHIP”
2. Centre for Environmental & Occupational Health, Climate Change and Health, NCDC Booklet release – “Climate Change and Health: Driving Local Action. A Collection of Case Studies on Adaptation and Mitigation Measures Implemented in Public Health Sector in India, 2023”
3. Epidemiology, NCDC technical report release- “Report of the First Multicentric Point Prevalence Survey of Antibiotic Use at 20 NAC-NET Sites”
4. IDSP, NCDC Guide book – “Outbreak Investigation Manual for Medical Officers”
5. Centre for One Health, NCDC vision document – “Vision document of Centre for One Health”- Harnessing Multisectoral Collaboration to protect communities by One Health Approach
6. National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control – “National Strategic Plan: Malaria Elimination-2023-27”