Indian delegation visits NIH, US for 34th Meeting of Joint Working Group of Indo-US Vaccine Action Programme

The current five-year Indo-US Vaccine Action Programme Joint Statement has been extended till 2027

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is implementing a focussed bilateral collaborative programme known as the Indo-US Vaccine Action Programme (VAP), jointly with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, since July 1987. The current five-year VAP Joint Statement has been extended till 2027, noting the Science and Technology Agreement between the US and India, with due approval from the Minister of Science & Technology and the Ministry of External Affairs.

Dr Rajesh S Gokhale, the Secretary, DBT along with the Indian delegation consisting of senior officials from DBT is visiting the US for the 34th Meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) of VAP and other scientific consultations. The JWG provides oversight to VAP and consists of Experts and policymakers from India and US, co-chaired by the Secretary, DBT from the Indian side. 

The meeting was convened on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 11 and 12, 2022. During the meeting, the joint statement of Indo-US VAP has been signed by Dr Gokhale and Dr Anthony Fauci, Director, NIAID in the presence of the Indian Ambassador to the US, considering the five-year extension accorded to the programme till 2027. 

As per practice, a ‘Rama-Robbins Lecture’ was organised in remembrance of the Late Prof V Ramalingaswami, former National Professor and the Late Prof Fred Robbins, former Chairman of VAP JWG from the US side. The lecture is an engaging talk on a subject of scientific relevance to both countries delivered by an eminent personality in the field of Health Sciences. This year, the ‘Rama-Robbins Lecture’ was delivered by Dr Fauci on ‘Pandemic preparedness and lessons from COVID-19. A talk was also delivered by Secretary, DBT. 

PIB