CII collaborates with IIT Kanpur to establish ‘IIT Kanpur-CII Risk Surveillance Centre’

The centre will help understand the transmission of infection and identify risk factors for infectious diseases

CII and IIT Kanpur have collaborated to launch the IIT Kanpur-CII Risk Surveillance Centre at IIT Kanpur. The centre will help understand the transmission of infection and identify risk factors for infectious diseases through compilation and analysis of data at pre-decided intervals to strengthen interventions by concerned government departments and agencies.

The pandemic spread underlined the pressing need for evidence-based strategy and preparedness for formulating public health policies to curtail the spread of and minimise the impact of infectious diseases. It has been established that mathematical forecast models based on health data are reliable for planning future action. The centre will throw up an evidence-based data-driven risk surveillance model or tool to help understand the co-circulation of the COVID-19 infection or other infections based on studies undertaken.

The centre’s launch is a step ahead in CII’s multi-pronged COVID-19 related interventions for which it has been working closely with the government and other stakeholders such as local medical authorities and communities, supported by industry. The CII Foundation is implementing this project.

As a CSR collaborative, the project is being supported by multi-industry partners, including the convergence of efforts by stakeholders such as the government, academic and research bodies, industries, civil society, and people.

Speaking at the online launch of the centre, Hari S Bhartia, Chairman, CII Task Force on Risk Surveillance, Past President, CII and Co-Chairman & MD Jubilant Pharmova, who conceived the idea of the centre, said that a virus sees no borders so cooperation on sharing information and data at every level and from everywhere is required to prepare us better for endemics and pandemics.

Dr Randeep Guleria, Chairman, CII Public Health Council and Director, AIIMS Delhi, sharing his perspective of public health, said that as we look at prediction models, we must keep in mind several factors such as rapid urbanisation, increased global travel and the rise of zoonotic diseases, amongst other factors. He emphasised that we need such prediction models so that timely action can be taken: there is a pressing need to put more money into research and develop vaccines at a pandemic speed. He shared that while an early warning system has been set up at a global level, there is a need for political will and investment to make it a robust and reliable system.

Speaking from a perspective of healthcare preparedness, Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII Healthcare Council and Chairman & Managing Director Medanta – The Medicity, appreciated the efforts but also posed questions on how the spread of the virus can be prevented and how the virulence of the virus can also be predicted, adding that these are aspects that need to be examined when we look at prediction models.

Appreciating the collaborative effort and emphasising the need for larger collaborations, Suchitra Ella, Deputy Chairman, CII Southern Region and Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, said collaborations with institutions and public health foundations and also across regions and countries where such infections are prevalent, would help strengthen the ability to predict, monitor and manage infectious diseases. She also spelt out hope of this Centre encouraging Bio-tech Startups, which will change the ecosystem of managing communicable diseases. Vaccine research and product development are highly dependent on information about the disease and its spread, so information from the Centre will help enormously, and may also likely contribute to public health systems in developing countries.

Making a strong case for risk surveillance, Professor Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur, said surveillance is a crucial reason why the pandemic was handled better in other parts of the world where risk surveillance was good.

Professor Manindra Agrawal, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, under whose guidance the Centre will operate, said that the pilot project would give a very good understanding of critical points where interventions can be made for impact. The studies being undertaken at the Centre should provide good tools for decision-makers to address such pandemics.

The centre, which has been partially operational since the second wave of COVID hit the country, has undertaken some studies. Based on its findings, two reports were prepared and launched.

The first report, Spread of Delta Wave in India, identifies key factors that impacted the spread of the second wave in India, while the second report, Spread of Omicron Wave in the World, presents immunity bypass properties of Omicron and its impact in different countries.