Important for GS Prelims — Science & Technology
About National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
- National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is India’s apex institute under the DGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) for the surveillance, prevention, and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
- It evolved from the Central Malaria Bureau (1909, Kasauli) → Malaria Institute of India (1938, Delhi) → National Institute of Communicable Diseases (1963) → NCDC (30 July 2009) with an expanded mandate covering emerging and re-emerging diseases, non-communicable diseases, Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), and as the nodal agency for disease outbreak investigation and rapid response in coordination with States.
Key Functions
- Nodal agency for disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, and rapid response, in coordination with State Governments
- Implements the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) across India
- Addresses Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) through the National AMR Surveillance Network
- Provides referral diagnostic support, capacity building, and technical support to States/UTs
- Conducts quality control of biologicals — vaccines (BCG, OPV) and diagnostic kits for HIV, Hepatitis, and Meningitis
- Undertakes entomological investigations for identification of disease vectors during outbreaks
- Hosts the headquarters of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) on its Delhi campus
Policy & Regulatory Framework
- Nodal agency for the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), launched in 2004 with World Bank assistance
- Implements the National Programme on AMR Containment, now covering a network of 65 hospitals across 27 states and 5 Union Territories
- Supports the National One Health Mission for integrated zoonotic disease control
- Collaborates with international partners, including the US CDC, to strengthen surveillance capacity
Conclusion
NCDC functions as India’s central technical institution for communicable and non-communicable disease control, having evolved from a colonial-era malaria bureau into a modern disease-surveillance and outbreak-response body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
| This concept has been elaborately discussed in the following article – Reason for Rise in Zoonotic Disease Leptospirosis in Kerala |