India to develop H1N1 vaccine

India will work on developing a vaccine for the deadly H1N1 flu as the new killer virus swept parts of the world.

Though no case of H1N1 flu has been reported in India so far, the Government at a high-level meeting held here this morning chalked out a scientific framework for manufacturing a vaccine for the dreaded disease.

The meeting chaired by secretary, Department of Health Research VN Katoch was attended by members of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), the serum institute and representatives of the World Health Organisation besides drug manufacturing companies.

"We have decided to form a short-term and a long-term strategy for tackling the dreaded disease," Katoch said.

While the short-term strategy would include a plan of action to tackle the outbreak of a pandemic, like the one this year, the long-term method would focus on creation of a vaccine and vaccination of a select population, he said.

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, will send the strain of the H1N1 virus to help in the research work, he said.

The Government would hold another meeting next week to constitute a core team to begin the research work and decide on the requirements of the companies who would be manufacturing it.