Hyderabad: Dengue and Chikungunya are widespread diseases that require close attention in India, eminent scientist and an international expert on Ebola, Peter Piot has said.
Though India was not at risk of an Ebola outbreak, there have been many such outbreaks in the past, including bird flu and swine flu, Piot, co-discoverer of the Ebola virus and Director, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said during his lecture at the Indian Institute of Public Health-Hyderabad (IIPH-H) here last night.
“There is a need for countries to build better and more responsive health systems and services. This calls for synergies among NGOs, communities, inter-governmental coalitions for a more systematic approach. Overall, if we focus more on preparedness and human rights, we will accomplish more,” a release from IIPH quoted Piot as saying.
The lecture highlighted the threat of viruses may be “exacerbated” by the current context of ecological change, climate change, global mobility, international travel and trade, human demographics and behaviour, agricultural and environmental pollution, it said.
