U.S.-India Cooperation in Health, Biomedical Research

Indo-U.S. cooperation in health and biomedical research has a long and productive history. This collaboration continues to grow, as evidenced by an increasing number of grants, bilateral agreements, programs, and technical assistance initiatives. By working together we are increasing scientific knowledge, improving public health, and controlling, preventing, and eliminating diseases.

Institutions in the two countries are working together in biomedical research and HIV/AIDS vaccine development. A senior U.S. researcher has been detailed to join other U.S. public health scientists working on HIV/AIDS with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). Joint efforts are under way to enhance the capacity of Indian institutions to conduct clinical trials. A Center of Excellence in Clinical Research has been established in Chennai with support from HHS.

An Indo-U.S. Corporate Fund for HIV/AIDS has been established, managed by the ICICI Bank and the GIVE Foundation India. With contributions from Indian and U.S. businesses, the Fund will increase resources to fight HIV/AIDS in India. Within the first month of the Fund’s establishment, six companies have pledged a total of $1.2 million. A further 13 companies have indicated strong interest in providing funding, corporate expertise, or products and services.

In addition, our governments are united in their resolve to work with world institutions to prevent and mitigate avian influenza and a possible human influenza pandemic arising from it. We will expand bilateral efforts and continue cooperation on avian influenza, and have agreed to reach out to the private sector, develop regional communications strategies, and conduct an in-region containment and response exercise. India has agreed to host a meeting of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in 2007. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to post public health experts in India for collaborative work on avian influenza and other emerging infectious diseases.

The U.S. and India are cooperating in many other important health areas, such as tuberculosis, malaria, reproductive health, maternal and child health, urban health, environmental and occupational health, vaccine development and evaluation, and disease surveillance. This collaborative work is being done under the auspices of a number of agencies, through bilateral agreements and other initiatives.

The President and Prime Minister are pleased to note that the U.S. and India have agreed to renew their collaboration on the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS for another five years, which was first established in June 2000.

Through an expedited review process, the FDA has approved or tentatively approved 15 single-entity and co-packaged versions of previously FDA-approved brand name anti-retroviral drug preparations. Thirteen of these 15 ARVs are manufactured by Indian pharmaceutical companies. The Government of India has requested assistance from the FDA in its efforts to raise the capability of the Indian drug-approving agency. A team from the U.S. FDA will visit India to discuss technical cooperation this year.

Professionals from the U.S. and India have developed plans and strategies to establish schools of public health in India. These schools will develop a cadre of public health experts and policy makers for programs to detect, prevent, and control diseases. HHS will continue to provide technical and financial support for this initiative.

The U.S. Government is India’s committed partner in the fight against polio. The U.S. will continue to work with the Government of India to ensure success in the final push to eliminate polio from India. The U.S. will continue to provide technical and financial support to India’s polio elimination efforts by assigning long- and short-term technical staff, providing vaccine, and supporting surveillance and social mobilization networks.

The U.S. Government will continue to support public-private partnerships, such as the collaboration that led to the development of a candidate vaccine against rotavirus. In this partnership,investigators from Indian and U.S. institutions have developed a promising candidate vaccine that is currently undergoing evaluation. If successful, this vaccine would prevent a substantial number of childhood deaths in India and around the world that are due to rotavirus.