Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Management in Pandemic situation;
Why in the News?
Four years after the onset of Covid, an expert group formed by NITI Aayog has proposed the establishment of a comprehensive framework to handle future public health emergencies or pandemics effectively.
Lessons Learned from COVID-19:
- Gaps in Legal Frameworks: Existing laws like the Epidemic Diseases Act (1897) and National Disaster Management Act (2005) were insufficient for handling large-scale health emergencies. These laws lack clarity on definitions of epidemics and provisions for managing public health crises, drug distribution, and quarantine measures.
- Delayed Response and Coordination: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in coordination between central and state governments, highlighting the need for a more organized response mechanism.
- Inadequate Surveillance: Insufficient disease surveillance and early warning systems delayed the identification of threats. The role of zoonotic diseases, especially viruses linked to bat species, underscored the need for better monitoring of human-animal interactions.
What specific recommendations does the NITI Aayog report make?
- Enactment of PHEMA: Introduce the Public Health Emergency Management Act for a more robust legal framework to manage pandemics and other health emergencies.
- Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS): Establish a central committee to oversee pandemic preparedness, governance, R&D, surveillance, and response efforts.
- Strengthened Disease Surveillance: Create a national biosecurity and biosafety network and monitor human-animal interfaces, especially for zoonotic diseases.
- Emergency Vaccine Bank: Develop a stockpile of vaccines for rapid access during health crises, sourced domestically or internationally.
- Early Warning and Research Network: Build a forecasting and modelling network, along with Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to advance research on priority pathogens and preparedness.
How can India enhance its pandemic preparedness framework? (Way forward)
- Strengthening Legal and Institutional Frameworks: Enact a Public Health Emergency Management Act (PHEMA) and establish an Empowered Group of Secretaries for coordinated pandemic response.
- Enhancing Surveillance and Early Warning Systems: Build a robust disease surveillance network, biosecurity system, and epidemiology forecasting for early detection and response to outbreaks.
- Investing in Health Infrastructure and Vaccine Stockpiles: Develop public health cadres, boost healthcare infrastructure, and create an emergency vaccine bank for rapid deployment during health crises.
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