NEW DELHI, October 17 — The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, formally launched the National One Health Mission Consortium on Saturday to build an integrated surveillance framework addressing the intersection of human, animal, and environmental pathogens.
The inter-ministerial alliance unites 27 premier national institutes across the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Department of Animal Husbandry. The consortium will spearhead active genomic surveillance of high-threat zoonotic viral pathogens, vector-borne diseases, and rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) hotspots.
Officials confirmed that the mission includes the establishment of 15 bio-surveillance field nodes and real-time wastewater epidemiological observatories linked directly to national BSL-3 and BSL-4 high-containment laboratories, ensuring early pandemic outbreak prediction and rapid diagnostic assay readiness.
The core tenets of the One Health framework (endorsed by the Quadripartite: WHO, WOAH, UNEP, FAO), epidemiology of high-risk endemic zoonoses in India (Kyasanur Forest Disease, Nipah, Rabies, Avian Influenza), and the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) are vital topics for UPSC Prelims and Mains (GS Paper III).