Principal Scientific Adviser Professor Ajay Kumar Sood chaired a brainstorming session on Monday to explore potential collaborations with Multilateral Organizations under National One Health Mission. The session focused on enhancing India’s integrated disease control and pandemic preparedness under the National One Health Mission. The session involved an overview of the activities under the National One Health Mission.

The Mission aims to implement a comprehensive and effective One Health strategy across India including tailored to specific regional needs by leveraging resources effectively and enhancing capacity building at national and state levels.

During the meeting, Professor Sood emphasized the importance of collaboration with all the stakeholders to further strengthen the mission, and suggested a deeper mapping exercise of all the ongoing activities to identify synergies.

Member of NITI Aayog Dr VK Paul spoke about the need for investing in research and development, which is critical for both AMR and pandemic preparedness. He also emphasized the need for an increased focus on the wildlife and livestock sectors.

Meanwhile, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Secretary of Department of Health Research (DHR) Dr Rajiv Bahl emphasized the value of understanding how other countries are tackling these issues and the opportunity for cross-learning that can be facilitated through the multilateral agencies.

The meeting was attended by key multilateral agencies and NGOs who presented their work in different aspects of one health such as zoonosis, antimicrobial resistance and capacity building in human, livestock and wildlife sectors.