The Vice-President, who visited the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), referred to the novel-strain of Coronavirus in China and pointed out that the disease was spreading across countries and is threatening to become a major public health crisis.
Referring to the vital role of the Indian Science and Technology Innovation (STI) system in achieving national goals as India aspires for sustainable and inclusive growth, the Vice-President made an appeal to the private sector to create a fund to finance innovative scientific projects aimed at addressing societal concerns.
Observing that investment in STI plays a major role in promoting research and developing cutting-edge technologies, he said funding for basic research must also be stepped up.
The Vice-President called upon scientists of CCMB and other scientific labs to find solutions to the challenges facing the world today like poverty, climate change, pollution, lack of clean drinking water, sanitation, increasing urbanisation and growing drug resistance.
He visited research facilities at CCMB and interacted with researchers and enquired about their work. He lauded CCMB’s effort in developing bacterial blight-resistant Samba Masuri rice variety in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Rice Research.
There is a need for CCMB to develop rapid DNA testing kits for the detection of rare diseases and many other genetic disorders. “It is important to predict and prevent genetic diseases as more than 70 million Indians are estimated to be suffering from genetic disorders,” Naidu said stating a report of the Organisation for Rare Diseases India. CCMB Director Dr Rakesh Mishra, Directors of CSIR labs, senior scientists and researchers were present.
Coronavirus: Patients from city test negative
Hyderabad: The swab samples of the patients at Fever Hospital, which were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, have tested negative for coronavirus, which continues to spread in China and to other parts of the world. Fearing that they might have been infected by the virus, three persons hailing from Hyderabad but with a recent travel history to China had volunteered and got admitted to Fever Hospital.
Health officials collected the swab samples from the patients and sent them to NIV Pune for testing. “All the samples have come negative. The patients have cold but they do not have fever, throat pain or breathing-related issues. They will be kept under observation for a day or two before being discharged,” said Dr K Shankar, Superintendent, Fever Hospital.
Meanwhile, a team of experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is expected to visit Hyderabad on Tuesday. The team will review coronavirus end-to-end preparedness for management of 2019-nCoV at airports, for thermal scanning of passengers and transferring of patients to hospitals for isolation. The team is also expected to visit Gandhi Hospital and Fever Hospital to oversee the preparations like isolation wards.
Source: Telangana Today