Tweet
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the current swine flu situation in the country was "totally different" from the 2009 pandemic of the H1N1 virus, when there was a shortage of testing facilities and no indigenous vaccines.
Speaking at the annual convocation ceremony of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) at RML hospital, Azad said, "The situation today is totally different from the pandemic in 2009. Then, there were inadequate labs for testing (of the virus), and we were dependent on imported reagents for the tests. There was no domestic vaccine."
He said by 2010, India had grown from mere two labs equipped with the testing facility to 45. "We also started producing our own vaccine under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). ICMR was also made responsible for producing domestic reagents, and, within a year, we achieved that as well. We now have adequate preparation with regard to surveillance, testing and treatment of H1N1," Azad said.
...
Speaking at the annual convocation ceremony of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) at RML hospital, Azad said, "The situation today is totally different from the pandemic in 2009. Then, there were inadequate labs for testing (of the virus), and we were dependent on imported reagents for the tests. There was no domestic vaccine."
He said by 2010, India had grown from mere two labs equipped with the testing facility to 45. "We also started producing our own vaccine under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). ICMR was also made responsible for producing domestic reagents, and, within a year, we achieved that as well. We now have adequate preparation with regard to surveillance, testing and treatment of H1N1," Azad said.
...
