Hyderabad: Call for Covid-appropriate behaviour, with emphasis on vaccination

Hyderabad: The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), the country's oldest academy, has a mandate of science and society, coined by its founder-president Prof Meghnadh Saha, an eminent scientist and a great visionary. A webinar was jointly organised by NASI HQs and Hyderabad chapter.

Prof Ajoy Ghatak, NASI president, stressed on three key message of Covid-appropriate behaviour to be followed, with emphasis on vaccination. He appreciated the role of technology to connect people and the spread of knowledge even during the pandemic.

Dr Anurag Agrawal, Director, IGIB, New Delhi, spoke on 'Genomic Surveillance', importance of genome sequencing in managing the pandemic, designing of a genome surveillance programme, concept of micro and mega lab, the country's efforts in genomic surveillance. Dr Rakesh K Mishra, former CCMB director and JC Bose National Fellow, shared his view on 'Variants and the Pandemic'. He mentioned the emergence of new variants, giving the concept of mutations, different variants of concern and role of CCMB in genome sequencing.

Dr Neeraj Nischal, Department of Medicine, AIIMS, spoke on 'Living with the virus-the way forward'. He explained the modes of virus transmission and listed statistics on the progression of Covid and mortality. He mentioned certain do's and don'ts to be followed. as "the virus is going to live with us for long."

Dr VP Kamboj, former director of CDRI, Lucknow spoke on 'Vaccine hesitancy, a key hindrance in achieving herd immunity'. He stressed on the need for vaccination, stating that "our battle with virus is still on; our best hope rests in widespread immunization and vaccination.

Dr Bhanuprakash Reddy, head, Biochemistry division, NIN, spoke on 'Immunity and nutrition in the context of Covid'. He forcussed on concept of immune system, types of immunity, macro and micro nutrients, and importance of vitamins in enhancing immunity. "In a country like India the lack of nutritious diet leads to vitamin deficiency".

Dr V M Katoch, NASI-ICMR Chair, RUHS, Jaipur, former DG, ICMR, shared his views on 'Continued fight against Covid-19: Bridging the gap between knowledge and practice'. Describing the pandemic situation, he appreciated the role of NASI in initiating this nationwide programme to spread more awareness on this crucial aspect. He mentioned that awareness programmes empowered the masses to cope with the crises. He stressed on the need to generate knowledge based on the past and present experience. He called for implementation of Covid-appropriate behaviour to avert the crises.