2026-01-24
India must prepare now to tackle future pandemics: Niti Aayog's VK Paul
Niti Aayog member Dr V K Paul on Saturday laid down a road map for IMTECH scientists here, exhorting them to pursue research on priority pathogens that have the potential to cause future pandemics.Dr Paul said, "We prepare for war when we are not at war, and a lot of work for tackling future pandemics should be done now in microbial labs like IMTECH. Governance, surveillance, research and partnership are the cornerstones of future pandemic strategy."Developing countermeasures up to Phase II clinical trial, working in partnership with the industry, creating efficient supply chains and demonstrating capabilities and speed should be the key for India for any pandemic mitigation strategy, he said.CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh, on Saturday, celebrated its 42nd foundation day.Several events were organised on the occasion, including the foundation day lecture on "Future Pandemic Preparedness: What we must do now", delivered by Dr Paul, who is leading the