Guwahati, 18 Dec: The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) entered into an agreement with the Assam government on Monday for setting up its branch in the state, an official statement said.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the state’s Health and Family Welfare Department and NCDC for establishing the regional branch at Rani in Kamrup district.
The NCDC branch will support the state government in disease surveillance and monitoring, and these will enable early warning leading to timely intervention based on evidence gathered from the field, the statement said.
The state branch will coordinate with NCDC headquarters in New Delhi with real-time sharing of data and information.
Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said, “Disease surveillance plays a crucial part in disease prevention, control and management. The regional branch of NCDC will provide a boost to public health infrastructure with prompt surveillance, rapid detection and monitoring of diseases, thereby enabling early interventions.”
Avinash Joshi, the additional chief secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, said a target has been undertaken to build an IT-enabled disease surveillance system by developing a network of laboratories at block, district, regional and national levels. (PTI)