New Delhi: The Indian vaccine market, which has carved out a place for itself at the global level, is expected to reach a valuation of Rs 252 billion by 2025, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said. The minister, who is on an official visit to the United Kingdom, also called for extended collaboration between India and the UK in areas of biotech startups and vaccine development. The world is increasingly realising India’s superlative capacities in preventive healthcare and the country is now in the process of developing several vaccines, Mr Singh, the minister of state for science and technology, said during a tour of the London Science Museum.
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He said recently, the first nasal Covid vaccine was successfully manufactured and added that a vaccine related to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has helped in the prevention of cervical cancer, according to an official statement issued on Sunday (April 30).
Mr Singh underlined that the Indian vaccine market, which has carved out a place for itself at the global level, is expected to reach a valuation of Rs 252 billion by 2025, it said.
India is fast emerging as the world’s major bio-economy and over the last few years, it has grown by leaps and bounds when it comes to innovation and technology, he said and pointed out that India has developed four indigenous vaccines in just two years.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in the Ministry of Science and Technology has through its “Mission COVID Suraksha” delivered four vaccines, augmented the manufacturing of Covaxin and created necessary infrastructure for smooth development of future vaccines “so that our country is pandemic ready”, he said.
During his visit to the 175-year-old London Science Museum, he underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative of setting up similar museums in India, the statement said.
The idea of setting up these museums is to help people, particularly the youngsters, to realise their hidden potential and sometimes even discover their inherent aptitudes of which they themselves may not be aware of, he said.
It also ignites curiosity in them which then may help sharpen their scientific temper and inspire creative innovation, Mr Singh said.
The management of the London Science Museum was particularly impressed by India’s Covid success story, the statement said. The museum is on the Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London, and was founded in 1857.
The minister was taken around the exclusive pavilion set up to trace the history of the Covid pandemic right from the first case to the first person who got vaccinated. India’s lead role in the management and prevention of Covid is also part of the pavilion, the statement said.
The minister was impressed with another pavilion devoted to tropical diseases prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and a special section of the exhibition with banners written in Hindi dedicated to the polio eradication programme led by India which has been an iconic role model for the rest of the world in the area of preventive health care, it added.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
