Kerala should give importance to virology research: NITI Aayog member

Kerala should give more importance to virology research since the state faces a higher risk of virus-related incidence compared to other parts of the country, a NITI Aayog member has said.

NITI Aayog member Vinod Kumar Paul was speaking at the inauguration of the Department of Biotechnology - Scientific Infrastructure Access for Harnessing Academia University Research Joint Collaboration (DBT-SAHAJ) at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) here on Saturday.

He said Kerala is expected to be the entry point of various viral diseases and also urged the state to make efforts in geriatric care.

Paul said the initiatives made by Kerala in the health sector could be followed by the rest of the country.

Lauding the initiatives of RGCB in virology research, Paul said the institution has to design additional programmes in the field urgently.

"Considering the demographic transition-related health challenges faced by Kerala, the state should make more efforts in the area of geriatric care and could think about creating diagnostics that are useful in primary care centres. The initiatives made by the state can be followed by the rest of the country," he said.

Urging researchers to take the path of excellence, Paul said the country wanted relentless hard work from youth and the work of the highest quality of excellence.

In his address, Secretary of GoI's Department of Biotechnology Rajesh S Gokhale emphasised the urgent need to achieve further growth in the bio-manufacturing domain in the country by leveraging new technologies.

RGCB Director Prof Dr Chandrabhas Narayana said the institution had envisaged comprehensive projects in the field of research and also for developing state-of-the-art infrastructure.

RGCB, an autonomous institution under the GoI's Department of Biotechnology, gave a detailed presentation on the cancer research programmes of the institution.

The primary goal of DBT-SAHAJ infrastructure is to create a national service facility, research resource, and serve as a platform to provide access to resources that cannot be provided by any single researcher's laboratory.