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WHO Technical Support to
Country Preparedness and Response for Avian Influenza in India
WHO participation in High-level Influenza Committees
 WR
is a member of the High Level Task Force on Avian Influenza chaired by the Minister / Secretary of
Health & Family Welfare constituted after the August 1st 2005 meeting.
Since
the past two years, the Coordinator-CDS is a member of the Joint Monitoring
Group which meets fortnightly chaired by the Director General of Health
Services.
Technical
Assistance provided for the preparation of the National Influenza Pandemic
Preparedness Plan (NIPPP) by the special task force chaired by the Additional
DG, Dr Shiv Lal, Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare.
CSR
SEARO and WHO-India Teams jointly reviewed the NIPPP and provided technical
inputs before finalization.
Pro-active
sharing of documents and resource materials on Avian Influenza from WHO, CDC
and other sources with the above committees.
WHO Support for
Workshops, Trainings and IEC (Information, Education and Communication)
Facilitated
participation of two nodal government officers (ICMR and NICD) at the WHO
Technical Consultation on Priority Issues in Influenza Preparedness at Geneva on 16-18 March
2004.
Support
to National Symposium on Influenza at VP Chest Institute, New Delhi on April 5, 2005.
Supported
the National workshop on Avian Influenza on August 1st 2005 in New Delhi chaired by
the Minister of Health and Family Welfare.
Support
to Expert Group Meeting on Biosafety Standards for
Public Health Laboratories (scheduled for February 2006) at High Security
Animal Diseases Laboratory, Bhopal.
Supported
nodal government officers from NICD, Delhi and
NIV Pune, to participate in the Regional Meeting on
Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness at Bangkok in 21-24 November 2005).
Support
to NICD for a Workshop on Emerging Pandemics including Avian Influenza in the
context of International Health Regulations.
Training
of Rapid Response Teams for Preparedness and Response to Avian Influenza from
the states. Between December 2005 and February 2006, seven training sessions
of three days duration each was completed – (20 state RRTs
trained). ). Resource person from SEARO spoke on Risk Communication in the
training. WRO-India provided the following support for this training –
 Financial
and Technical support for the first training session.
Technical support for the remaining six
training sessions.
Training material and multi-media training
resources developed and provided to all participants.
Support
for publication CD (Communicable Diseases) Alert by NICD and its distribution
to all 600 districts of the country -
two CD Alerts on Avian Influenza (January 2004 & September 2005)
and one on Biosafety and Bio-security (June 2005).
Assistance
towards preparation of Media Strategy Plan for IEC on Avian Influenza through
support of media consultancy.
A
session on Avian Flu was held in the meeting of Health Secretaries of States
which was organized by RNTCP, and supported by WHO, at Neemrana
on 26-27 Nov 2005. The WHO
Representative to India
addressed the participants and the Joint Secretaries of the Ministry of
Health and FW as well as the Ministry of Animal Husbandry made presentations
on Avian Flu. The session was also attended by the Secretary and Addl.
Secretary of the Ministry of Health and FW of GOI, who participated in the
deliberations and clarified issues raised by States. This meeting was
attended by Health Secretaries from 22 States, including Maharashtra,
Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Directors of
Health Services of 4 additional States were also present. A draft copy of the
response plan of GOI was also provided to all participants.
WHO Support for
Strengthening of Nodal Institutions, Surveillance and Logistics
Visit
of Joint SEARO and WRO-India Team to Indian Veterinary Research Institute
(IVRI), Bareilly,
for on the spot assessment of facilities available for managing veterinary
diseases of public health importance).
Support
to IVRI from SEARO for development of training manual for Medical Officers on
Zoonotic Diseases.
Support
to strengthening of Avian Influenza Monitoring Cell at NICD planned (US$
20,000). A similar cell has been proposed at Department of Animal Husbandry
and Dairying.
WHO-HQ
provided support to ICMR for strengthening/expansion of the National and
regional Influenza Centers at NIV, Pune; Kings
Institute, Chennai; NICED, Kolkata; AIIMS, New Delhi; and RMRC, Dibrugarh.
Strengthening
of laboratory diagnosis and response capability of NICD through –
Supply
of Rapid Diagnostic Kits (30 kits in August 2005 and February 2006).
Supply
of Sample Collection Kits (1000 kits in August 2005 and February 2006).
Supply
of Tamiflu Capsules (20,000 courses) and Tamiflu Pediatric Suspension (200 bottles) by SEARO.
WHO Internal
Deployment
Avian
Flu Monitoring Cell in WR Office has been strengthened under overall
supervision of WR India and coordination under Coordinator CDS for 24 hr
monitoring of the situation in the country. Two Technical staff -FETP
resident coordinator (from Chennai) and National Consultant (Laboratory
Surveillance) have been deployed for the Monitoring Cell. The National Consultant (Laboratory
Surveillance) has recently completed a hands-on training in laboratory
diagnosis of avian influenza.
Activation
of the WHO network of 305 NPSP Surveillance Medical Officers, 121 RNTCP
Consultants and 17 NLEP Coordinators deployed throughout the country for
gathering early warning information from the field on Avian Influenza. Reports/rumours of poultry deaths from various states are being
received and these are being forwarded to GoI for
verification.
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