Hospital-based surveillance for sexually transmitted diseases to start in India: ICMR

The total number of people living with HIV in India in the year 2020 was estimated at 23.19 lakh.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will start a hospital-based surveillance network for sexually transmitted infection (STI) data collection to study antimicrobial resistance patterns (AMR) in India.

The study’s objective is to examine the frequency, clinical laboratory features, antimicrobial resistance patterns (AMR) and treatment outcomes related to STIs in the population along with the establishment of a national hospital-based surveillance network.

The data, according to ICMR, will serve as an ‘invaluable tool in predicting the burden of the disease existing in our society’.

According to the premium research institute, the data collected from six regions --East, West, North, South, Central, and North East --will serve as a platform for additional clinical research and advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI)- based studies in medical institutes across India for appropriate intervention.

The duration of the study will be of three years after which this data will be used to generate hypotheses related to STI disease, and the repository platform will be utilised in the future for further research studies, ICMR said.

This will help experts formulate patient management and diagnostic protocols, and develop a public health policy, ICMR said.

The letter of intent for surveillance from ICMR states that although the STI cases are widely evidenced in India, systematic epidemiological studies to determine their exact prevalence are yet not available.

‘There is an utmost need for data on clinical signs & symptoms, laboratory investigations, management protocols, the clinical course of STI diseases, disease spectrum, and outcomes of patients,’ the letter read.

The collected data will be stored in the central server or cloud and analysis will be done by a team of experts and scientists at ICMR. Furthermore, the data will be used to generate hypotheses related to STI disease and the repository platform will be utilised in the future for further research studies, ICMR said.

As per the National AIDS Control Organisation’s surveillance report, the total number of people living with HIV in India in the year 2020 was estimated at 23.19 lakh.