Azim Premji Foundation, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR), and the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), have joined hands to ramp up testing infrastructure and facilities to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The institutions will also actively research innovative methods of testing that can potentially help enhance the country’s capacity and speed of Covid-19 testing considerably, said Azim Premji Foundation in a joint press release.
The partnership will enable free-of-cost testing for Covid-19 to a large number of people from disadvantaged and marginalised communities, using NCBS-TIFR and inStem’s high-capacity technical capabilities and skilled scientific personnel.
NCBS-TIFR and In-Stem are testing centres approved by their respective Departments, Atomic Energy (DAE) and Biotechnology (DBT), based on the guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
“This partnership will not only enable enhancing testing capacity in this region of the country, but also will help explore more effective testing procedures, which is a crucial element in tackling and containing the pandemic,” said Anurag Behar, CEO of Azim Premji Foundation.
Apurva Sarin, Director of inStem, said rapid and widespread testing is universally recognised as a critical tool to inform our treatment of infected individuals as well as control the spread of this disease.
Azim Premji Foundation and Wipro have committed a sum of Rs 1,125 crore to contribute towards an integrated nation-wide response to Covid-19 in coordination with government institutions and civil society partners.
Source: Economic Times