USAID, Takeda Biopharma launch dengue prevention programme across India

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Takeda Biopharmaceuticals India on Friday announced the launch of a dengue prevention campaign titled ‘Haarega Dengue, Haraenge Hum’ across India.

The campaign aims to educate schoolchildren and communities across Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh about how their actions can help prevent dengue and encourage people to adopt habits that can reduce the spread of vector-borne diseases.

The campaign will look deeper into how climate change affects the spread of infectious diseases and provide strategies to improve preparedness and build stronger and more responsive health systems in the country.

“Due to the changing climate, specifically a rise in temperature and rainfall, vector-borne diseases are becoming more prevalent, adding additional stress to the already overwhelmed health systems from the recent pandemic,” the bodies said in a joint statement.

Elaborating on the initiative, Annapurna Das, general manager, Takeda Biopharmaceuticals India, said that bold and collective action is required from all sectors to accelerate efforts in the area of climate change to protect our communities from the impact of vector-borne diseases.

“Protecting the climate is aligned with our purpose of bringing better health and a brighter future for all. We are committed to this cause and will continue working with multiple stakeholders, including the government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industry, academia, and healthcare providers, to support the vision of Dengue Mukt Bharat,” she said.

This comes after Takeda has also initiated local clinical trials for their dengue vaccine, Qdenga, in the country. It has also forged a manufacturing partnership with Hyderabad-based Biological E, where the latter will ramp up capacity to 50 million doses a year, accelerating Takeda’s plans to make 100 million doses a year within a decade.

The vaccine is already available for children and adults in the private market in Europe, Indonesia, and Thailand, and in some public programmes in Argentina and Brazil.