Dr. Kavita Singh Throws Light On Monkeypox And Neglected Diseases On Khul Ke

Dr Kavita Singh, Director South Asia, Drugs For Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva spoke about Monkeypox and neglected diseases at a recently organised RoundTable on Khul Ke. The session was moderated by renowned science journalist Pallava Bagla. Khul Ke is a brand new, one-of-a-kind platform, launched to empower the audience to have more informed and meaningful conversations about various topics. The platform, touted to elevate conversations, is the only platform to allow video, audio, and text-based conversations.

Here is what Dr. Kavita Singh said about the current scare of Monkeypox

Symptoms of Monkeypox:

• Fever and rashes would be the primary symptoms of it. It will gradually subside within a few days, not causing much harm to the patient.
• Children are more at risk of contracting Monkeypox as they are not vaccinated for smallpox. Whereas, for adults/senior citizens, the risk of Monkeypox would be very less.

Cure for the disease:

• Monkeypox is a self-limiting disease and patients will recover within a few days. There have been no cases of Monkeypox in India.
• Being an anti-viral disease, there is no drug available yet. There is one drug used across the globe but nobody anticipated this, so the supply is very minimal.
• Government, as well as citizens, are aware and alert about Monkeypox and diagnostics are also available.

Talking about the neglected diseases, Dr. Kavita Singh said:

Ancient Diseases are neglected diseases, on which we do not have adequate information. Neither do we have the tools or methods to fight those diseases. WHO states 20 neglected diseases, out of which India itself suffers from 12 to 13 of them. Some of the neglected diseases are Dengue, Rabies, Leprosy, Kala Azar (Black Fever), and Chikungunya. Drugs need to be made for the neglected diseases as all of these ailments still prevail in the country without any proper cure or medicine for them.