Message from the Director

Colleagues and Friends,

I am pleased to share this commemorative report showcasing examples of the decades-old, highly productive, and mutually beneficial public health collaboration between the Government of India (GOI) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC’s partnership with the GOI goes back more than 50 years and has been further strengthened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent commitments from both countries further bolstered the relationship between CDC and India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW). Together we address some of the most important and challenging public health priorities of our time. In February 2020, the United States and India publicly issued a joint statement calling for stronger coordination to “prevent, detect, and respond to disease outbreaks such as novel COVID-19.” And, in February 2021, leaders of both countries pledged that “the U.S. and India will work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.”

While this report does not capture all the many joint accomplishments that CDC has worked on with the GOI for over half of a century, it does highlight some important shared priorities, successes, and current collaborations, including:

• Global polio eradication
• HIV/AIDS epidemic control
• Tuberculosis control
• Influenza pandemic preparedness
• Pandemic preparedness and response
• Global infectious disease surveillance
• Integrated public health laboratories
• Antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention and control

At the time of this publication, the impact and strategic value of CDC’s decades-old collaborations with the GOI are increasingly clear, as many are being leveraged now for the GOI’s COVID-19 response. CDC-trained Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, emergency management officials, laboratory experts, and other public health experts lead or support various aspects of India’s response. CDC also supports GOI’s pandemic-related disease surveillance, cluster containment, contact tracing, and infection prevention and control, while expanding collaborations with Indian government partners to train and equip a capable public health work force for the challenges that remain ahead.

The entire CDC India team is proud of the joint accomplishments and the productive relationship we have had with the Indian Government over many years. On behalf of CDC India, I invite you to read this report to learn more about our collaborative efforts and impact in India.

Thank you for your support.
Meghna Desai, PhD, MPH
CDC India Country Director