Role of community & constant surveillance key to combat vector-borne diseases: Experts

The insights were shared during a panel discussion titled 'Science and Community: One Health Series' at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum on Friday.

Bengaluru: City experts have pointed to the critical role of community action and continuous pathogen surveillance in addressing vector-borne diseases.

These insights were shared during a panel discussion titled Science and Community: One Health Series at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum on Friday.

Climatologist and retired professor from the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Prof Jayaraman Srinivasan, underscored the mounting challenges to public health. He noted that human exposure to novel viruses has significantly increased over recent decades.

“We have observed rising temperatures in traditionally cold regions over the past two decades. Coastal cities like Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, already known for their heat, are on the verge of facing extreme heat-related deaths if timely interventions are not implemented,” he warned.

Prof Srinivasan also critiqued the tendency of policymakers to attribute all issues to climate change, calling it an “easy escape from accountability.” He stressed that the harshest consequences of climate change would be borne by vulnerable groups such as construction workers and farmers who work outdoors.

Mansi Malik, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Genetics and Society, highlighted the challenges of current genome sequencing techniques, describing them as labour-intensive and limited in scope.

She elaborated on the pressing need for advanced molecular techniques in next generation sequencing to improve the understanding of virology and bacteriology.

“Pathogen surveillance must adapt to the rapidly changing societal and climatic conditions to effectively tackle emerging health threats,” Malik said.