Working towards animal health

Working towards animal health

Subject : Government Scheme

Section : Animal Sector

Context: The developments unleashed by COVID-19 have once again put the spotlight on the pressing need to create greater collaborations and synergies between research on human health and animal health.

Why Animal Health Matters?

• Globally, we have witnessed around 9,580 instances of disease out breaks from 2000 to 2010, of which 60% diseases were zoonotic in nature
• The incidences of disease outbreaks across the globe have been increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6%.
• In India, annual outbreak of zoonotic diseases translates into an estimated annual loss of $12 billion to the economy
• Zoonotic diseases are responsible for huge consequences to farmers, exports and gross domestic product (GDP) growth nationally

Effective Pandemic Preparedness:

• The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) has set up a dedicated ‘One Health Unit’ in collaboration with the Gates Foundation
• One of the primary focus areas of the unit has been on coming up with an “animal pandemic preparedness model by creating a mechanism for storage and seamless exchange of data and information on livestock health
• This will be implemented through the National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM)
• To incentivize the growth of the animal health industry in India, companies can now avail incentives for setting up or expansion of animal vaccine and related infrastructure under the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund
• To create a robust pandemic preparedness model, it is imperative to juxtapose the data on animal health with the available data on human health.
• Within the framework of the NDLM, so far, substantial progress has also been made by linking all the animal disease diagnostic labs involved in sero-surveillance through a single portal, and harmonization of SOPs used by labs.

National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM):

• It is a digital platform being developed jointly by DAHD and NDDB on the foundation of the existing Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH).
• The aim is to create a farmer-centric, technology-enabled ecosystem where the farmers are able to realize better income through livestock activities with the right information.
• The bedrock of NDLM will be the unique identification of all livestock, which will be the foundation for all the state and national level programmes including domestic and international trade.
• This system will also include robust animal breeding systems, nutrition, disease surveillance, disease control programmes and a traceability mechanism for animals and animal products.