Topic: 2024-Spread of Animal Viruses
Country: India
Delegate Name: Evalea Brown
India recognizes that animal spread diseases also known as zoonotic diseases pose a serious threat to public health. Some commonly seen viruses are rabies, cholera, sylvatic plague, and many others. India’s most current health threat is combating rabies with over 20,000 human deaths annually. This is around 35% of the total rabies fatalities world wide.
Currently India has systems in place to monitor outbreaks and to predict future outbreaks. This is governed by the DAHD, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. Additional India supports a one health policy, and vaccinations for certain zoonotic diseases. India is continuing to look into ways to improve the systems in place, with one of the biggest problems they face being that there is no centralized effort often making it difficult to implement and follow through with policies.
India is working towards a better disease software program to track and monitor zoonotic diseases, and is hoping to centralize its disease prevention programs as well as working with other countries to implement improved policies. Additionally India is working with other organizations on the one health policy.
