Malaria, Dengue TB Play Second Fiddle To Covid - 19

Although India has worked relentlessly towards developing innovative testing solutions for COVID-19 throughout last year, the timely detection of a number of other infectious diseases has been sidelined. In India, the range and burden of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, filariasis, leprosy, HIV infection, typhoid, hepatitis etc., are enormous. In fact, inadequate containment of the vector has resulted in recurrent outbreaks of dengue fever and re-emergence of chikungunya virus disease and typhus fever. If India can develop more than 20 different diagnostic tests or devices in a single year to fight COVID-19, many more such innovations can be brought to effectively detect other infections looming in our country.

- Dr Manbeena Chawla

Like the previous year, 2021 is expected to be dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. Apart from the difficulties it has imposed on the healthcare system, it has made India realise the importance of biomedical resources. It has pushed India to optimise the latent capabilities which the country possesses, across the public and private sector to promote indigenous development and manufacturing.

2020 saw many innovative solutions entering the market within the diagnostic space particularly for COVID-19 testing. A majority of them came from the academic sector, after receiving timely regulatory approvals and commercialisation.

Although India worked relentlessly towards developing innovative testing solutions for COVID-19 throughout last year, the timely detection of a number of other infectious diseases got sidelined. A recent example is the rise of a rare fungal infection mucormycosis.

In India, the range and burden of infectious diseases are enormous such as tuberculosis, malaria, filariasis, leprosy, HIV infection, typhoid, hepatitis etc. In fact, inadequate containment of the vector has resulted in recurrent outbreaks of dengue fever and reemergence of chikungunya virus disease and typhus fever.

For instance, India is home to approximately 2.8 million tuberculosis patients, making it the largest number in a single country. On the other hand, more than a decade after India eliminated leprosy, the disease continues to linger on. Adding on, India’s malaria surveillance system ranks among the worst in the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to a study published in The Lancet in 2020, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis and lower respiratory infections were among the leading causes of deaths in India in 2019.