Though Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance (WES) or just Waste-Water Surveillance (WWS) has been known for some time it gained prominence as a public health tool with the covid pandemic. In the context of One Health, and as signatories to the Pandemic Treaty, deployment of WES has gained a certain urgency. But at present in India, very few cities have established a WES system and there are no clear protocols on what should be done, why and how. This conversation is an introduction to the many facets of this promising new technological domain….
Dr. Gayatri Saberwal
Our previous conversation was on developing domestic capacity for the manufacture of biosimilars. But the larger prize is new drug discovery. In a list of 29 countries ranked according to progress in new drug development, US and China are in the top two places, but India does not even make it to the list. In the second part of this conversation on biologics, we discuss India’s existing strengths, and the policy changes that could unleash its full potential. Challenging but do-able. Addressing drug discovery priorities of the Global South, will require big investments by the government, and these investments could be structured in a way, that new drugs are affordable from day one.