India taking action to curb dengue and its costs to the nation

Even as Sun Pharmaceuticals has entered the vaccines business with an indigenous dengue vaccine candidate for all four serotypes of dengue, more than 34 fresh cases of dengue have been reported from Vadodara in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The state of Tamil Nadu too has seen 1,752 dengue cases up to October 18, accounting for 3.4% of the total number of cases reported country wide, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

The delayed monsoon across the country has led to many states reeling under an outbreak of chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, and dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus.

While India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has drawn out an action plan for effective community participation, the mounting cases of dengue, chikungunya and malaria has led the Indian administration to ask citizens to rely on generic medications to curb the annual outbreak of disease, as well as prepare for the upcoming onslaught of non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes.