Working Together with India to Increase Scientific Knowledge, Develop and Evaluate Vaccines and Drugs, and Control, Prevent, and Eliminate DiseasesTopics on this page: Introduction Over the past few decades, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office in India has administered well over $200 million of cooperative health projects in high-priority areas, such as HIV/AIDS, polio, tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, and childhood and oral cancers. By funding small grants initially, HHS has helped lay the groundwork for long-term collaborations. The benefits from these collaborations are visible today in many parts of the country, in the form of hundreds of Indian scientists trained in the United States, dozens of collaborative programs, and thousands of personal and institutional relationships. This past year, HHS committed nearly $30 million to U.S.-India collaborations through many of its agencies, including: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By working together we are: 1) developing new scientific knowledge; 2) creating new technology for the development of vaccines, drugs, diagnostic tools, and devices; and 3) working together to control, prevent, and eliminate diseases. The benefits from these collaborations flow back to both the American and Indian people, and through the good will generated on both sides, to Indo-American relations in general. HHS’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) Between 1998 and 2003, HHS/NIH nearly quadrupled the number of research projects to which it provided funding in India, from 17 to 67. Today, that number has nearly tripled again to 180 projects valued at $17 million in fiscal year 2006. NIH builds research capacity and collaborative opportunities through investigator-initiated grants, support for a Primate Research Center in Mumbai, an International Center for Excellence in Tuberculosis Research in Chennai, targeted workshops and training activities, and post-doctoral research training in the United States for over 300 Indian scientists. HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HHS/CDC is partnering with Indian institutions in a wide variety of bilateral and multilateral programs. HHS/CDC is one of the largest supporters of polio-eradication efforts in India. Under President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), HHS/CDC supports the Indian Government’s efforts to control the country’s HIV epidemic. HHS/CDC also provides technical and funding support for disease surveillance and the laboratory detection of seasonal and avian influenza, which also builds capacity for pandemic preparedness. HHS/CDC provides substantial technical support for India’s national efforts to prevent and treat tuberculosis, and gives technical support for tobacco control. HHS’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regulatory inspection staff from HHS/FDA routinely conducts inspections of Indian pharmaceutical facilities to ensure products exported to the United States meet stringent safety and efficacy standards, which helps to avoid costly recalls for Indian exporters and improves confidence in the Indian brand. HHS/FDA and Indian scientists also collaborate on infectious-disease research. Bilateral Agreements HHS maintains the following highly productive ongoing bilateral agreements: - Vaccine Action Program: To develop vaccines against high-priority diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, and rotavirus. In addition to this program, HHS/NIH, HHS/CDC and the CDC Foundation are partnering with others to support the development, manufacturing and evaluation of vaccines in India through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Children’s Vaccine Program at the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health.
- Contraceptive and Reproductive-Health Research Program: To promote the development of contraceptives and research into reproductive health.
- Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Disease and Disease Surveillance Program: To strengthen India's outbreak response and disease surveillance, including seasonal and avian influenza.
- Collaboration on the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS: To advance epidemiological and operational research on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.
- Maternal and Child Health and Human Development Research Program: To promote research in low birth weight,micronutrients, and reproductive-tract infections.
- Environmental and Occupational Health Program: To promote research, training, and workshops in environmental and occupational health, including injury control.
- Expansion of Cooperation in Vision Research: To promote collaborative work on ocular diseases, including the prevention of blindness cases.
- Low-Cost Health Technologies: To promote collaboration on the development and use of low-cost medical technologies and devices for health care in resource-limiting settings.
In addition to the above-listed agreements, HHS is collaborating on HIV/AIDS, polio elimination, establishment of schools of public health, and preparedness for avian influenza, and capacity-building. 1. HHS/CDC’s Global AIDS Program: HHS/CDC works with USAID and other United States Government-agencies under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to support the Government of India’s response for HIV/AIDS. Major program activities are in the high-burden southern States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The U.S. Government and over 30 multinational agencies and donors assisted the Government of India in its National AIDS Control Plan. HHS/CDC has dedicated resources to the President’s Emergency Plan, including a headquarters office in the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and a second office in Chennai. HHS/CDC provides critical technical assistance and policy guidance to senior Indian health officials and manages PEPFAR programs in several Indian States. The total PEPFAR budget for India in fiscal year 2007 was $30 million, of which $7 million will come through HHS. Through the FDA, HHS has implemented an expedited review process to approve generic antiretroviral drugs for use under PEPFAR. In the last few years, HHS/FDA has issued tentative approvals of over 50 Indian projects under the Emergency Plan. This expedited review has been critical to the overall success of PEPFAR, since India produces a large portion of the available supply of generic antiretroviral HIV/AIDS drugs. More than 90 percent of all antiretrovirals purchased by the Emergency Plan are generics, which has saved the program millions of dollars each year. HHS/NIH renewed an Indo-U.S. research program on the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS. The program promotes extramural and intramural collaborations in HIV/AIDS prevention research, workshops and training. 2. HHS/NIH International Center for Excellence in Research (ICER): HHS/NIH established an ICER site in Chennai, in Tamil Nadu State, to develop a sustained research program in areas of high infectious-disease burden, building on a lengthy history of collaboration with the Tuberculosis Research Center (TRC) in Chennai. 3. HHS/CDC Polio-Eradication Program: HHS/CDC is strongly committed to assisting India in its program to eradicate polio. HHS/CDC is one of the biggest supporters of the World Health Organization’s polio team in India, and provides substantial funding for the purchase of oral polio vaccine, in addition to critical technical and managerial support. HHS committed $2.3 million to polio-eradication efforts in India in 2007. 4. HHS Support to Establish Schools of Public Health in India: HHS initially facilitated the development of the concept, and worked closely with the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the establishment of the Public-Health Foundation of India. 5. HHS/CDC Collaboration on Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Pandemic-Influenza Preparedness: HHS is funding a $1.59 million cooperative agreement with the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to expand seasonal and avian influenza surveillance capacity, implement routine collection of specimens and monitoring of influenza disease. 6. HHS/CDC Support for Tobacco Control: HHS/CDC provided technical and financial support to the Ministry of Health for the preparation of a report on tobacco control in India. The objective of this report was to collate the evidence-based information on tobacco use in India, complemented with an analysis of the current situation, and recommended proposals for future strategies to implement effective tobacco control. 7. HHS Support for Rotavirus Vaccine Development: HHS/CDC and HHS/NIH are working together with Indian investigators on the development and testing of rotavirus vaccines. These investigators are conducting a clinical trial in India, which is investigating two live, oral rotavirus candidate vaccines (strains 116E and I321) for their ability to prevent rotavirus diarrhea in Indian children. 8. HHS/CDC Support for the Field Epidemiology Program (FETP): HHS/CDC is supporting the FETP at Chennai through technical consultations from headquarters and by posting a resident advisor. 9. Research Infrastructure Support: HHS/NIH is providing funding for equipment, and substantial technical assistance, for a new state-of-the–art, non-human primate breeding facility under construction near Mumbai. Once completed this breeding facility will be an invaluable resource for HHS/NIH research priorities working in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Last revised: May 23, 2008 | 
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