New Delhi, Nov 12 (UNI) President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday emphasised the need to close the gap between practitioners of bio-sciences and regulators.
`` As the bio-sciences grow and evolve, more practitioners should come into regulatory roles as well, to look at issues of bio-ethical dilemmas as well as legal questions,’’ he said.
Addressing the commemoration ceremony here of the 10th anniversary of the partnership between the Department of Bio-technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology and the UK-based Wellcome Trust, he said that as the partnership completes its first decade, the India Alliance should draft its priorities for the next phase.
The Wellcome Trust is a bio-medical research charity based in London, United Kingdom.
Mr Kovind said that the world was at the edge of an era of great hope as well as of great uncertainty.
Personalised and precision medicine; genomic medicine; lab-generated organs; rationalising data privacy with data use for clinical research and the larger public good – were issues that offer scope for well-being but could also pose bio-ethical dilemmas as well as legal questions.
``Today, through science and technology, human beings wield unimaginable power over the future of our planet. We, therefore, have a responsibility like never before. And scientists, particularly bio-scientists, are our soldiers and generals in the battle to safeguard our planet, our species and our future,’’ he pointed out.
The President suggested four frontline areas of concern including environment, life-style and infectious diseases and the diseases of the brain.
``Air, water and soil must be cleaned. While we do so, we must mitigate the consequences on human and livestock health. The second frontline area is that of lifestyle diseases as diabetes, hypertension and cardiac diseases are on the rise,’’ he said.
In the quarter-century since 1990, the number of Indians living with diabetes grew from 26 million to 65 million. In the same period, the incidence of all cancers increased by almost 30 per cent.
The President pointed out that while known infectious diseases are tackled, the lesser-known ones threaten to expand.
``Disease, like science, knows no boundaries. Pandemic influenza viruses don’t need passports and visas to spread. On the other hand, the shrinking of animal habitats is creating room for zoonotic diseases (that can spread from animals to humans) and diseases that jump species,’’ he said.
On the diseases of the brain, Mr Kovind said that urban stress and a significant elderly population, had left India facing a mental health epidemic.
``Preventive measures, relevant to our genetics and our lifestyle, are in the realm of theory, waiting to be discovered. We must discover these if our people are to age well, with full mental capacities,’’ he added.
UNI GP ADG 1951