Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare laid the foundation stone of the New Building Complex of NCDC

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare,
Ghulam Nabi Azad addressing at the foundation stone
laying ceremony of the New Building Complex of
National Centre for Disease Control.

New Delhi, April 28: Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare laid the foundation stone of the new building complex of NCDC in Delhi today.

Addressing the foundation laying ceremony, Azad said it was a momentous occasion that the foundation stone of new building complex of NCDC had been laid. It was also dream fulfilled which he had wanted to have an Institute of national importance like CDC, Atlanta which he saw when he visited the USA.

Azad said AIIMS was a dream project of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Till recently India had only one AIIMS in the country. But 6 more AIIMS have been established in different parts of the country recently. This has brought a total
revolution in the medical history of India.

Talking about NCDC, he said it had an illustrious innings in the service of the country. It is also recognized as a world class institution of education, training and research in the area of communicable diseases. With the expansion of infrastructure, advanced training of its manpower and induction of new technologies, the organization will continue to meet the difficult challenges of responding to an increasing number of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases effectively. NCDC has played a leading role in surveillance and control of major communicable diseases. The Health Ministry proposes to open 27 more additional NCDC branches in the country in the 12th Five year plan in addition to strengthening the 8 existing NCDC branches. This will provide the presence of NCDC in each state across the length and breadth of the country for a closer and more effective interface with the State Governments, not only to greatly improve our surveillance and public health response but also to have a data-base for the other national health programmes.

Azad hoped NCDC would play a major role in the service of the people in the days to come.

It may be mentioned that NCDC was earlier known as NICD. It had its origin as Central Malarial Bureau at Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh in 1909 and was renamed in 1927 as the Malaria Survey of India. It was shifted to Delhi in 1938 and was renamed as the Malaria Institute of India. With the drastic reduction of malaria incidence during 1960s, the activities were extended to cover other communicable diseases and the Institute was renamed as National Institute of Communicable Diseases in 1963. It was renamed as National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in 2009 on the occasion of its centenary celebrations.

NCDC is providing technical expertise in the field of disease control activities and has been acting as a centre of excellence for building up of trained manpower, providing technical guidance and coordinating nation–wide surveillance for major communicable diseases. NCDC, with its composite expertise for disease outbreak investigation and management, is in a unique position among all public health institutes. Recent experiences of containing SARS, avian flu and outbreak of Pandemic Influenza-A (H1N1) cases and Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in the country have demonstrated the need and capabilities of the Institute.

The Cabinet has accorded approval of Rs. 382.41 crores for up gradation of NCDC in 11th& 12th Plan which includes Rs 326.19 crores for the new buildings. The activities for up gradation of NCDC in the form of infrastructure strengthening, modernization of equipment and enhancing manpower are at various stages of development. The up gradation shall include newer buildings, equipment modernization and manpower up scaling. The upgraded NCDC shall be able to effectively increase the intake for the prestigious Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) training programme which it is carrying out in collaboration with CDC, Atlanta (USA), which will help in development of highly skilled field epidemiologists who shall be capable to address the emerging public health challenges.

With the up gradation of facilities at NCDC the newer programmes such as National Antimicrobial Resistance Containment Programme, National Rabies Control Programme and Viral Hepatitis Surveillance to name a few would be initiated effectively. The up gradation will enable NCDC to continue the leadership role in the context of emerging challenges in Public Health with enhanced capacity to respond to emerging and existing infectious diseases of public health importance.