'Don’t interfere with domains of other animals, birds or plant species'

Mumbai: Not interfering with environment, ecology, domains of other animals, birds or plant species - was one of the key messages from an international conference currently under way in the historic town of Erice in Sicily in Italy.

“Tracking microbes, genome sequencing, knowledge sharing, R&D for vaccines, treatments, working in collectivism to conquer pandemics is key to tackling medical issues of future,” said Dr Ishwar Gilada, consultant in HIV, STDs and infectious diseases at the Mumbai-based Unison Medicare & Research Centre at the the 57th Session of International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies, World Federation of Scientists which is underway in Italy.

At the conference, Dr Ishwar Gilada, Dr Trupti Gilada and Dr Prapti Gilada presented a paper - ‘Alternative Strategies to Prevent/Cure Global Virus-Induced Diseases’.

“Pandemic Preparedness, Disaster management and Global Health Security, “One World-One Hope” should be central to policies,” said Dr Gilada, Secretary General, Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG).

“Like in Covid-19 science, in all emerging and re-emerging diseases all of us are learners. Medical science is constantly evolving. Many concepts may be observations, theories, and hypotheses. Some concepts may still be unearthed and remain open for correction,” said Dr Gilada, the President Emeritus, AIDS Society of India and Governing Council Member, International AIDS Society.

Speaking about vaccines, he said the goal should be to develop vaccines that protect against entire virus families (all CoV or flu strains).

On the global one health framework, he said it integrates human, animal, and environment to reduce zoonosis and focuses on land-use changes, wildlife trade, and farming practices.

“Experiences from one pandemic should be lessons for the forthcoming ones. HPV, HBV and AMR are pandemics in the offing and will explode any day. Alternative strategies are crucial to complement the principal pathways, we must discuss the role of Universal Vaccines, Broad-spectrum antivirals, RNAi and mRNA therapeutics, nano-technology and use of AI crucial,” said Dr Gilada.