The Indian subcontinent has witnessed several emerging and re-emerging diseases, including disease outbreaks with consequences far beyond public health. Over the past two years, the country had outbreaks of the Nipah virus disease in Kerala, acute encephalopathy syndrome (AES) in Bihar, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Gujarat and Zika virus disease in multiple states, which served as stress tests for the health system and the society. With 1.3 billion people, covering nearly 17 percent of the population of the world, the Government of India recognises the need to be well prepared to respond to any emerging high threat pathogens.
On 17 July 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been so far the second largest in history, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This is an extraordinary measure that recognizes the possible increased national and regional risks and the need for intensified and coordinated action to manage them.
First sub-regional training of Rapid Response Teams from seven southern states in Bengaluru, Karnataka from 30 October-1 November 2019The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is conducting a series of workshops with technical support from WHO to strengthen India’s overall preparedness to respond to EVD and other high threat pathogens with outbreak potential. A series of five sub-national EVD workshops to train state Rapid Response Team (RRT) members, airport and port health officials, clinicians and administrators are being conducted in Bengaluru (30 October-1 November), Pune (14-16 November), Guwahati (27-29 November), Bhubaneswar (11-13 December) and Delhi (18-20 December 2019) to strengthen the preparedness, operational readiness and response.
These workshops provide hands-on and skill-based training with case scenarios, demonstrations and practices including donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE). The sessions cover key areas of surveillance, risk assessment, information management, point of entry, clinical management including infection prevention and control, laboratory and sample management, risk communications, and non-pharmaceutical interventions including safe burials.
WHO will continue to support the Government of India in building up a trained pool of RRTs as states plan cascading this RRT training further to district levels in 2019-2020.