CDC in India

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborates with the government of India, Indian institutions, and international organizations to address a wide range of infectious and noncommunicable diseases and to strengthen India’s health systems to reach national and international goals

HIV/AIDS

CDC opened an office in India in 2001 and currently maintains offices in Delhi, Chennai, and Hyderabad. In support of the National AIDS Control Organization, CDC has focused its efforts on preventing new infections, increasing the number of persons living with HIV/AIDS who receive services, strengthening program capacity, and establishing a single monitoring and evaluation system. CDC works with in-country partners to design, implement, and evaluate HIV/AIDS strategic information systems and to provide training on using data in HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs. CDC also supports quality assurance/control for HIV testing in national and state reference laboratories, trains laboratory workers, and provides guidance for laboratory system strengthening and human capacity development.

Tuberculosis

CDC has provided technical assistance for tuberculosis (TB) control efforts since 1997. Nationwide coverage of directly observed therapy (a leading TB control strategy) was achieved in 2006. Since 2007 CDC has provided guidance for the expansion of TB/HIV and TB infection control, program management of multidrug-resistant TB activities, and support for operational research and surveillance.

Immunization

Since 1993, CDC has continuously assigned experts to WHO regional and country offices in India. CDC’s technical support and leadership has been instrumental in developing and effectively implementing polio eradication strategies, strengthening the national immunization program, and more recently, supporting accelerated control of measles in India. In January 2013, India achieved two years without a new case of wild poliovirus and was removed from the list of polio endemic countries. CDC continues to support India remaining polio-free and is working to improve measles control and surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Foodborne Infections

CDC builds capacity for surveillance in India to identify infections caused by contaminated food through the WHO-sponsored foodborne infections program. With the goal of reducing the number of foodborne illnesses and related economic costs, the program brings multidisciplinary scientists together and conducts training to detect foodborne disease.

Global Disease Detection (GDD)

CDC collaborates with the government of India to increase global security from threats of new and reemerging diseases in support of International Health Regulations. In 2009, the India GDD Regional Center was established. The initial focus of the Center, located at India’s National Centre for Disease Control, is to establish the India Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and to work with local, regional, and global public health entities to better detect, identify, and contain emerging infectious disease threats.

Influenza

CDC has supported capacity-building for surveillance since 2004, leading to improved characterization of circulating influenza viruses and capacity to rapidly detect novel viruses, including avian influenza viruses. CDC-supported laboratory training and preparedness workshops have strengthened India’s response measures against seasonal, avian, and pandemic influenza. CDC also collaborates with Indian partner organizations on research to quantify influenza burden in India, evaluate the effectiveness of influenza vaccines in young children at increased risk for severe respiratory illness, and identify optimal timing for influenza vaccination in India to inform the development of national influenza vaccination policy.

Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP)