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Preparing for the Next Pandemic
Context:
Four years after the onset of Covid-19, an expert group formed by NITI Aayog has proposed establishing a comprehensive framework to manage future public health emergencies or pandemics effectively.
More on News:
- The Pandemic Preparedness and Emergency Response (PPER) framework advocates for the introduction of a new Public Health Emergency Management Act (PHEMA) and other measures to ensure a rapid and efficient response within the first 100 days of an outbreak.
- This expert group, constituted in June 2023, based its recommendations on the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and other public health crises.
Enactment of PHEMA:
- Inadequate Laws: Public health emergencies often require governments to exercise special powers, such as mandatory screenings and restrictions on movement.
- During the Covid-19 pandemic, authorities invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act (EDA) of 1897 and the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) of 2005.
- However, the expert group’s report noted that these laws were inadequate.
- The EDA 1897 does not define terms like ‘dangerous,’ ‘infectious,’ or ‘contagious diseases,’ nor does it clarify what constitutes an ‘epidemic.’ It also lacks provisions for the distribution of drugs or vaccines, quarantine measures, and other preventive steps.
- Similarly, the NDMA was not designed to handle health emergencies, as it does not specifically address public health crises or epidemics. Instead, it focuses on managing various types of disasters, primarily natural disasters.
- Enactment of PHEMA: To address these shortcomings, the report recommends the enactment of a Public Health Emergency Management Act (PHEMA).
- This new law would empower central and state governments to respond effectively to pandemics and other health emergencies, such as those caused by non-communicable diseases, disasters, or bioterrorism.
- It would also establish public health cadres at national and state levels, ensuring a trained and prepared first-response team.
Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS)
- It is a committee of officials led by the Cabinet Secretary, to prepare for public health emergencies and oversee preparedness during non-crisis periods.
- This group will provide guidance on governance, finance, research and development, surveillance, partnerships, and other critical areas that can be quickly scaled up for an emergency response.
- EGoS will be responsible for developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for pandemics and forming sub-committees to handle these specific functions, according to the report.
Strengthen Surveillance:
- The report emphasised the need to strengthen the disease surveillance network, highlighting that many epidemics and pandemics over the past 50 years, including Covid-19, were caused by viruses associated with various bat species.
- Therefore, it stressed the importance of continuous monitoring of human-bat interactions.
- It recommended establishing a national biosecurity and biosafety network, involving top research institutions, biosafety containment facilities (labs designed with safety measures to protect against biological hazards), and genome sequencing centres.
- Additionally, the report called for the creation of an emergency vaccine bank, capable of sourcing vaccines both domestically and internationally.
Network for Early Warning:
- The report recommended creating an epidemiology forecasting and modelling network to predict the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and assess the effectiveness of countermeasures, such as vaccination, across different scenarios.
- It also emphasised the need for a network of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) dedicated to researching priority pathogens.
- These centres would focus on developing diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for pathogens identified from the World Health Organization’s priority list, enabling proactive preparedness.
Independent Drug Regulator:
- India requires a robust clinical trial network recognized by international regulatory authorities to ensure rapid access to innovative solutions during public health emergencies.
- The report emphasised that the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO), which oversees the import, sale, manufacture, and distribution of drugs, should operate independently and be granted special powers.
- Currently, the CDSCO functions under the Ministry of Health.