BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine
25-Oct-2017: BIMSTEC Forum provides an ideal platform for fostering of Traditional Medicine
Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India hosted first Meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine on 24-25 October, 2017 at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an International Organisation involving a group of countries in the South Asia and South East Asia namely, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. India being a major stake holder in the field of Traditional Medicine plays an important role in influencing the policies and strategies related to the Traditional Medicine in the BIMSTEC Forum
Delegations from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Kingdom of Bhutan, the Republic of India, and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Thailand along with the BIMSTEC Secretariat participated in the Meeting.
The Meeting was inaugurated on 24 October 2017 by Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH. While welcoming the delegates from the BIMSTEC Member States, Secretary AYUSH referred to the rich heritage of Traditional systems of Medicine in the BIMSTEC Member States. He emphasised that the BIMSTEC Forum provides an ideal platform for fostering collaborations among the Member States in the area of Traditional Medicine. He highlighted the recent developments in the International Cooperation activities of the Ministry. He hoped that the deliberations during the Meeting would bring fruitful outcomes in strengthening the cooperation amongst the BIMSTEC Member States in areas of Traditional Medicine.
All the Delegations made Country Presentations on the status and best practices of Traditional Medicine in their respective country. The Meeting discussed the following important agenda :-
- Implementation of Strategies of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicines (BITFM)
- Priority Areas for technical and research collaboration among the Member States on Traditional Medicine
- Regional strategy on the protection of Genetic Resource associated with Traditional Medicine Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights and develop a work plan
- Human Resource Development and Capacity Building among the BIMSTEC Member States
- New Initiative, proposals and programmes for cooperation on Traditional Medicine among the BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine.
The Meeting also acknowledged that in accordance with the ToR of the Task Force, the BTFTM Meetings shall be held on rotational basis among the BIMSTEC Member States.
The Meeting considered and adopted the draft Report of the First Meeting of the Task Force for submission to the Fourth Meeting of the BNNCCTM to be held in Bangladesh.
CARB-X
11-Sep-2017: A Bengaluru firm receives the international CARB-X grant
A Bengaluru firm has become India’s first to receive the international CARB-X grant to develop antibiotics to treat hospital-acquired infections.
CARB-X, or Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, is a public-private international partnership, which was set up in 2016 to focus on innovations to improve diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant infections. It grew out of President Barack Obama’s 2015 Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB) initiative, and is funded by the London-based biomedical research charity Welcome Trust, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The partnership provides a new, collaborative approach to speed research, development and delivery of new antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics, and other innovative products to address the urgent global problem of drug-resistant bacterial infections. CARB-X will provide grants up to $ 455 million (over Rs 2,900 crore) over a five-year period to firms across the globe for antibiotics R&D. All CARB-X funding so far is focused on projects to address the most resistant “Gram-negative” bacteria.
Bacteria are classified as Gram-positive and Gram-negative, based on a structural difference in their cell walls that is detectable through a staining technique developed in 1884 by the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram. Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for 20-25% of infections, and are multi drug resistant — which is the ability of bacteria to defend themselves against drugs that try to kill them.
Antibiotic resistance has become a global crisis that threatens the management of infections, both in the community and in hospital practice. The major reasons are the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, including against viral infections, especially in countries like India where they are commonly available over the counter; their prolonged use in patients admitted to hospitals; and their abuse in animal husbandry as growth promoters. Cheaper antibiotics such as penicillin, tetracycline or co-trimoxazole can often no longer cure an infection, and high-end ones like third- and fourth-generation cephalosporin and carbapenem are commonly used, doctors in India believe. In hospital critical care units, more than 50% organisms are now resistant even to these drugs.
National Nutrition Strategy
5-Sep-2017: NITI Aayog launches the National Nutrition Strategy
Dr. M.S Swaminathan and Padma Shri Dr. H Sudarshan, launched the National Nutrition Strategy, along with Vice Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar and Member Dr. Vinod Paul.
With a benefit to cost ratio of 16:1 for 40 low and middle-income countries, there is a well-recognized rationale, globally, for investing in Nutrition. The recently published NFHS-4 results reflect some progress, with a decline in the overall levels of under nutrition in both women and children. However, the pace of decline is far below what numerous countries with similar growth trajectories to India have achieved. Moreover, India pays an income penalty of 9% to 10% due to a workforce that was stunted during their childhood.
To address this and to bring nutrition to the centre-stage of the National Development Agenda, NITI Aayog has drafted the National Nutrition Strategy. Formulated through an extensive consultative process, the Strategy lays down a roadmap for effective action, among both implementers and practitioners, in achieving our nutrition objectives.
The nutrition strategy envisages a framework wherein the four proximate determinants of nutrition – uptake of health services, food, drinking water & sanitation and income & livelihoods – work together to accelerate decline of under nutrition in India. Currently, there is also a lack of real time measurement of these determinants, which reduces our capacity for targeted action among the most vulnerable mothers and children.
Supply side challenges often overshadow the need to address behavioural change efforts to generate demand for nutrition services. This strategy, therefore, gives prominence to demand and community mobilisation as a key determinant to address India's nutritional needs.
The Nutrition Strategy framework envisages a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat - linked to Swachh Bharat and Swasth Bharat. The aim is ensure that States create customized State/ District Action Plans to address local needs and challenges. This is especially relevant in view of enhanced resources available with the States, to prioritise focussed interventions with a greater role for panchayats and urban local bodies.
The strategy enables states to make strategic choices, through decentralized planning and local innovation, with accountability for nutrition outcomes.