On 28th July 2020, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, The Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth announced funding and tie up between The United Kingdom(UK) and India for five new medicinal research projects worth 8 million pounds (around Rs78 crore) to tackle the anti-microbial resistance to support the combat against antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes during his ‘virtual visit’ to India.
The United Kingdom will contribute 4 million pounds (around Rs.39 crore) from the UK research and Innovation (UKRI) fund for international collaboration and India will contribute 4 million pounds for the fundings of the five projects that are planned for September 2020.
Key Points:
i.India is a major contributor of antimicrobials in the global supply chain of the pharmaceutical industry.
ii.The UK is the second biggest research partner of India and by 2021 the joint research is estimated to be worth 400 million pounds.
iii.This investment will enable the nations to jointly work on global health challenges like the search for COVID-19 vaccine.
iv.The partnership between India and UK on research and development will benefit the people of both the nations.
v.The research project aims for the understanding on how the waste from antimicrobial manufacturing could accidentally fuel the anti-microbial resistance (AMR).
Other Partnership:
i.The UK partnered with India’s Serum Institute for the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccine.
ii.The distribution of the vaccine to the people of the developing countries will commence after the completion of clinical trials.
Virtual India tour:
i.Tariq Ahmad, chaired a meeting with senior Indian and UK based stakeholders on cold chain technologies, required for the effective transport of vaccines.
ii.Ahmad discussed the on multilateral cooperation and other with V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs.
iii.He toured the UK funded solar power plant in Rajasthan.
About United Kingdom(UK):
Prime Minister– Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson
Capital– London
Currency– Pound sterling
Recent Related News:
i.Serum Institute of India signed a supply agreement with UNICEF to supply pneumonia vaccines to low-income countries.
ii.The government of UK (United Kingdom) has launched a £4 Mn (about Rs 37 crore) Innovation Challenge Fund’ in India, focused on 2 main tech platforms including artificial intelligence (AI) and big data in Karnataka and future mobility in Maharashtra.
