GoI: A high level force set up to work on drugs and vaccine

The Government of India has set up a high-level work force to test vaccines and drugs. The task force consists of members from NITI Aayog, DRDO (Defence Research Development Organization), ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).

Highlights

The main aim of the task force is to set up vaccine development process. It will create a list of national and international organizations that work on vaccine development. Currently, there are 70 clinical trials being conducted all over the world to find a vaccine for COVID-19. Of these 5 have entered human trials.

Role of DBT

The Department of Biotechnology has been made the central coordination committee to develop the vaccine.

Plan of India

The Government of India has been till now focusing on preventive measures. Also, it had been working on repurposing of drugs. Very few measures have been adopted so far to discover a drug or vaccine. The team will help to accelerate the discovery.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2020