Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | Business Upturn

Panacea Biotec secures Rs 20.79 crore contract for Td vaccine supply

Yash Agarwal — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:43:32 +0000

Panacea Biotec has announced the receipt of a Letter of Award from the Central Medical Services Society (CMSS), under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The contract involves the supply of Diphtheria and Tetanus Vaccine (Absorbed) for Adults and Adolescents IP, valued at ₹20.79 crore.

According to the details provided, the supply of the Td Vaccine will be executed in several tranches, commencing from September or October 2026 and continuing until November or December 2028. This significant contract underscores Panacea Biotec‘s role in contributing to public health initiatives by providing essential vaccines.

The awarding entity, CMSS, is a domestic body under the Indian government, and the contract does not involve any related party transactions, nor does it have any interest from the promoter group or group companies of Panacea Biotec.

This development is a part of Panacea Biotec’s ongoing efforts to support vaccination programmes and enhance its portfolio in the healthcare sector. The company’s commitment to delivering quality vaccines is reflected in this substantial contract, which aligns with its strategic objectives.

Disclaimer: This article is based on a regulatory filing submitted to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

This article is written by Yash Agarwal and reviewed by Aman Shukla before publication.

Government to issue Monkeypox viral disease prevention guidelines next week

News Desk — Tue, 24 May 2022 19:32:57 +0000

India’s ministry of health and family welfare will be issuing comprehensive guidelines later this week for the treatment and prevention of monkeypox amid an outbreak of the viral disease.

This rare disease has registered nearly 100 confirmed cases globally.

The decision to issue guidelines was taken at a meeting held on Monday. Attended by officials from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). World Health Organization (WHO), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), clinicians and health ministry. To set up standard operating procedures for internationals who show symptoms of the disease after returning from affected countries.

The detailed descriptive guidelines will include identifying sick patients at airports, lab tests, symptoms, prevention, surveillance strategies, reporting to hospitals and community awareness.

As per the WHO, more than 92 cases have been reported from a dozen countries so far. “We should not be worried about monkeypox but vigilant.” Said Dr Nivedita Gupta, senior scientist of ICMR.

Ministry of health and ICMR is forming the guidelines for monkeypox with regards to the treatment, prevention, community awareness, signs and symptoms of monkeypox. As well as isolation of sick patients who returned from monkeypox affected countries. Moreover, surveillance strategy at the airports and sea ports. So, these are going to be comprehensive guidelines. Which the ministry of health is likely to release in the coming days”. Said Dr Nivedita Gupta, senior scientist of ICMR.

India managed Omicron surge better than other countries: Health Ministry

News Desk — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 05:52:06 +0000

The government of India has managed Omicron in a much better way when we compare it with other countries. Today 15-17 Lakh cases are reported globally and India reports 3000 cases daily, this claim was made by the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of health and family welfare, Lav Agrawal.

Minister Dr @MansukhMandviya is delivering the keynote address at webinar on "India's Public Health Response to Manage #COVID19"https://t.co/feKEaVwj8H

— Office of Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@OfficeOf_MM) March 17, 2022

Total cases in India has declined to 30,799, which is the lowest when we compare with other countries. China is also facing a surge in its omicron cases.

The government of India had also provided vaccines to states and there was no shortage of vaccination in the last few weeks. More than 22.05 Crore balance and un-utilized vaccine doses are still available with States/UTs, PIB reported.

#Unite2FightCorona #LargestVaccineDrive

➡️ India’s Cumulative #COVID19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 180.80 Cr (1,80,80,24,147).

➡️ More than 3 lakh Doses administered for age group 12-14 years in the last 24 hours.https://t.co/fyuagp6nrJ pic.twitter.com/JrBTEdu76b

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 17, 2022

More than 138 Crore vaccine doses are provided to States and UTs, through the government of India i.e. free of cost and also through the direct state procurement category. More than 3 lakh doses were administered for age groups 12-14 years in the last 24 hours, increasing the pace of dose administration to minors, where we were lagging, also it was affecting the education system of India both public and private.

#Unite2FightCorona

➡️ 2,539 New Cases reported in last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/tAldxxEGZ2

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 17, 2022

Public health care Infrastructure was highly utilized and personnel were overworked, private diagnostics centres were also deployed on multiple border check posts to conduct quick RTPCR. Over 78.12 Cr COVID Tests conducted so far by GOI. Only 2539 cases are reported in the last 24 hours dipping the graph to the lowest this year.

#Unite2FightCorona

➡️ Over 78.12 Cr COVID Tests conducted so far.

➡️ Weekly Positivity Rate currently at 0.42%.

➡️ Daily Positivity Rate stands at 0.35%. pic.twitter.com/OQNYUD8ZPT

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 17, 2022

The people of India have benefited from the steps taken by the government of India in a while. These steps that are taken by GOI has made India “Atmanirbhar” in managing the Healthcare of our Nation, MoHFW said.

India records 2.1 lakh new COVID-19 cases, 1185 deaths in last 24 hours

Nitin Anand — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 05:33:38 +0000

On Friday, April 16, Union Health Ministry released the data of new COVID-19 cases in India, after that India reached the milestone of highest single day surge.

Report released by the Union Health Ministry states that in the last 24 hours, India reported 2,17,353 new COVID-19 cases and reached the milestone of highest single day surge and 1,18,302 patients got discharge, while 1,185 people died of this deadly virus. Total active cases in India is now around 15.6 lakhs.

India reports 2,17,353 new #COVID19 cases, 1,18,302 discharges and 1,185 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry

Total cases: 1,42,91,917
Total recoveries: 1,25,47,866
Active cases: 15,69,743
Death toll: 1,74,308

Total vaccination: 11,72,23,509 pic.twitter.com/dQYtH8QCN6

— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2021

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released that 26,34,76,625 samples were tested up to April 16 including 14,73,210 samples tested yesterday.

The total vaccinations across the country have crossed the 11.70 crore mark today with more than 26.02 lakh vaccine doses administered till 8 pm. Today, 67,400 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were operational, marking a rise of an average of 22,400 operational Vaccination Centres (45,000 CVCs on an average are functional on any given day). Workplace vaccinations have also enabled such a high turnout of beneficiaries.

The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 11,72,23,509.

On April 15, a meeting of Empowered Group 2 (EG2) was held to review the availability of essential medical equipment and oxygen during COVID.

To give clarity and assurance to the states on oxygen supplied over the next few weeks of surge in cases, a mapping exercise was undertaken jointly by DPIIT, MOHFW, Ministry of Steel, various critically affected states, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) along with key stakeholders including the representatives from oxygen manufacturers, All India Industrial Gas Manufacturers Association (AIIGMA) as per the directions of Empowered Group -2 (EG2).

Sources of medical oxygen and their production capacity was mapped to match the requirement of states and an indicative framework has been developed to guide the states on the sources of medical oxygen.

Accordingly, 4880 MT, 5619 MT and 6593 MT have been indicated to states for meeting their projected demand as on 20th April, 25th April and 30th April, respectively. MOHFW is issuing orders in this regard and the same would be notified by Ministry of Home Affairs.

In view of increasing demand for medical oxygen, EG2 decided to float a tender for import of 50,000 MT of medical oxygen. MOHFW has been directed to finalise the tender for the same and also explore possible sources for import identified by the missions of MEA.

EG2 is monitoring the situation of demand and supply of medical oxygen continuously to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to support the uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen.

Tika Utsav: India administers over 1.28 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses in four days of ‘vaccine festival’

News Desk — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 12:33:29 +0000

The health ministry said that the four days of Tika Utsav saw intense vaccination activity. 29,33,418 vaccination doses were given on April 11 and another 40,04,521 were given the next day. “The corresponding figure for April 13 and April 14 stands at 26,46,528 and 33,13,848,” the ministry said. The four days Tika Utsav was started on Sunday to inoculate a maximum number of eligible people against the coronavirus.

Maharashtra (1,11,19,018), Rajasthan (1,02,15,471) and Uttar Pradesh (1,00,17,650) have administered more than 1 crore vaccinations cumulatively. The health ministry further stated that the Tika Utsav led to a growth in the number of COVID vaccination centres and daily vaccinations. Furthermore, the ministry said that– “India has been scaling multiple peaks to vaccinate vulnerable sections of its populations against the COVID-19 virus. The strongly expressed demand by the Prime minister for observing the days between April 11 and 14th as ‘Tika Utsav’ saw many workplace vaccination centres operational across private and public workplaces.”

1,038 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
10 States account for 82.27% of the new deaths. pic.twitter.com/Vdw24ArEIm

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 15, 2021

On average, about 45,000 CVCs used to be operative on any given day. On Day-1, Day-2, Day-3 and Day-4 of the four day “Tika Utsav”, 63,800, 71,000, 67,893 and 69,974 CVCs were active, respectively. Additionally, on average, Sunday used to witness lower levels of vaccination numbers (about 16 lakh). But, on the first day of Tika Utsav, which was a Sunday, more than 27 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 8 pm that day,” it added.
Meanwhile, India reported its highest-ever single-day spike in COVID-19 with over 2 lakh cases on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry. With over 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India recorded the highest single-day spike ever since the pandemic began last year. According to the figures cited by ANI, the country’s total number of cases now stands at 1,40,74,564, including 14,71,877 active cases. India also reported 1,038 fresh COVID-related fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 1,73,123.

Congress Gen Sec Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds meeting with Uttar Pradesh leaders amid rising COVID-19 cases in state

Nitin Anand — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 15:58:23 +0000

On Wednesday, April 14, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a virtual meeting with party leaders of Uttar Pradesh to discuss on the current situation of COVID-19 in the state.

Priyanka Gandhi and other party leaders discussed about the situation of Coronavirus in the state, as the COVID-19 cases have increased drastically in the state.

Priyanka Gandhi held this meeting to get aware about the real condition of the state. The meeting continued for almost two hours through video conferencing.

While addressing the conference, Priyanka Gandhi said, ” I believe we should get a proper brief from our respective areas so that we can prepare our party’s strategy, how we can help and support people. The duty of opposition is to fight for the rights of people and the Congress party is committed to that. It is a promise to the people of the state, Congress is ready for all the possible help.”

Priyanka Gandhi also targeted Uttar Pradesh government for alleged mismanagement of present situation. She said, “Testing is not allowed in private labs. You need a letter from CMO to get admission into a hospital. It is double attack on the people. One by COVID-19 and and another by this government, such rules and regulations are creating more problems in the lives of people instead of giving support to them.”

Earlier today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also tests positive for COVID-19. In the last 24 hours, Uttar Pradesh reported 18,021 new COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths as India reported the highest-ever one-day spike with over 1.8 lakh COVID-19 cases, 1,027 deaths, as per report published by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Union Health Minister declares Lakshadweep and Budgam in J&K as Tuberculosis free region

Govindraj Muttepawar — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 07:29:44 +0000

Budgam recording an 80 per cent decline in the number of Tuberculosis cases since 2015, it has become the only district in the country to have been awarded the ‘TB Free Certification’ by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Government of India’s National TB Elimination Program for the year 2020.

Earlier, the Ministry had sought claims from States, districts of the country under the initiative and the district Budgam had also filed a claim under the Bronze category. However, after the verification of the claims by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), it came to the fore that the district has rather recorded a decline of 80 per cent in the number of TB cases leading to its TB-Free certification.

The claims made were verified by the collaborative institutes and finally, the district was given a TB Free Certification and became the only district in the country-out of 72 that had filed the claims-to have been listed in the ‘TB Free’ category after the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

As a part of the verification of the claims, a survey, in which 17490 individuals participated along with 3296 households in 10 blocks of the district Budgam, was carried out by 10 teams from National Tuberculosis Elimination Program which were supervised by IAPSM, ICMR, WHO.

“We are going to try for TB elimination certification for all districts of Kashmir division. The National TB elimination program workers braved bad weather, tough terrain and the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve this. We want to focus on TB elimination goal with all our efforts,” State TB Officer, Kashmir Dr Rehana Kausar told Excelsior.

The villages in Budgam that were identified for the survey include, Dehramana, Sumerbugh in Chadoora, Hamchipora in Khag, Charangam in Beerwah, Kawsajagir in Magam, Chertu in Khansahib, Farhad Pora in Chadoora, Telsur in Chrar-e-Sharief, Narawarah in Beerwah and Khosapora in Khansahib. As per details, only 2 cases of Tuberculosis were detected in 17490 individuals who participated in the survey. Also, it has been told that the parameter, ‘Number Needed to Test’ (NNT) has also improved from 13.5% in 2015 to 88.2 in the year 2020.

It is to be noted here that the Government of India has set an ambitious goal of ending tuberculosis (TB) by 2025 and to achieve that the initiative was launched across the country.

As per norms, districts or States which reported a decline of 20 per cent could have filed the claim under the ‘Bronze’ category which comes with a monetary award of Rs 2 lakh, those with a decline of 40 per cent could have filed the claim under ‘Silver’ and those with 60 per cent could have filed their claim for ‘Gold’ and those with 80 per cent were to be conferred with ‘TB Free’ status with a monetary award of Rs 10 lakh as a part of sub-national certification for TB Free district, state.

According to the list of awardees issued here, TB Free status has been given to the UT of Lakshadweep, and J&K’s district Budgam, no State has been able to figure in the Gold category, while as Diu district of UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman has figured in the category.

India records 1.15 lakh COVID-19 cases, 630 deaths in last 24 hours: MoHFW

Meemansa Shekhawat — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 07:50:54 +0000

According to the reports tendered by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday, April 7, there are 1,15,736 Covid-19 cases, 59,856 discharges, plus 630 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, reports ANI.

India reports 1,15,736 new #COVID19 cases, 59,856 discharges, and 630 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry

Total cases: 1,28,01,785
Total recoveries: 1,17,92,135
Active cases: 8,43,473
Death toll: 1,66,177

Total vaccination: 8,70,77,474 pic.twitter.com/ugUgrvvy67

— ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2021

In addition to this, there were 25,14,39,598 samples had been tested for Covid-19 till the 6^th of April and among all of these, 12,08,329 samples were tested on yesterday, April 6, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), quotes ANI.

COVID-19 Testing Update. For more details visit: https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #CoronaUpdatesInIndia #COVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/X4J8LUu2CA

— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) April 7, 2021

Well, the rising Covid-19 cases in India cannot be left out in the cold. Though the vaccination is going on and as per the reports of the Union Health Ministry, 8,70,77,474 is the number of the total vaccination done so far. Also, the health ministry has clarified that the Covid-19 second wave is spreading faster than the last year, quotes LiveMint.

Recently, the Indian capital has announced a night curfew keeping in view the ongoing crisis. Along, with this, Maharashtra has witnessed an appalling situation with its total number of cases being 31,13,354.

The state had to go for a weekend lockdown as well as a night curfew. Though, it was made a point that essential services will not be encumbered. Home delivery will be allowed and gathering is strictly prohibited.

Regarding the ongoing situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to conduct a meet with the CM’s on Thursday, April 8, to discuss as well as review the Covid-19 situation in the country.

Ayushman Bharat Scheme achieves target of 70,000 Health and Wellness Centres ahead of time : MoHFW

Nitin Anand — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 06:23:30 +0000

As per the report published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on March 21, the target of operationalizing 70,000 Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) by 31st March 2021 has been achieved ten days in advance. The official Twitter handle of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare tweeted, “India achieves a “Healthy” milestone. Target of 70000 functional #AyushmanBharat Health and Wellness Centres achieved 10 days in advance #SwasthBharat”.

https://twitter.com/MoHFW_INDIA/status/1373493998145437697

More than 41.35 crore people have accessed primary healthcare services at the AB-HWCs and about 9.45 lakh Tele-consultations has been done at HWCs.

Ayushman Bharat scheme which was launched on 23rd September 2018 with the motto of providing free access to Healthcare for 50 crore people in the country. This program is being administered by National Health Authority.

The scheme is jointly funded by both the federal government and the states. The program will cover the medical expenses of 5 lakh per family per year for medical treatment in both the public and private hospitals.

https://twitter.com/AyushmanHWCs/status/1373479884475961348

The program was started because of the report published by Global Burden of Disease Study which reported major diseases and risk factors from 1990 to 2016 for every state in India.
This report awaken the government to take interest in health policy because it identified major health challenges which government need to address . So, in 2018 government of India gave green flag to Ayushman Bharat scheme.

UN offers support as India executes worlds largest COVID-19 vaccination drive

Sarthak Yadav — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 10:06:26 +0000

India has launched the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, several UN agencies have lend their support and our working closely with authorities for the massive vaccination programme. On Tuesday, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said, “In India, the UN team led by Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien is supporting the government and UN partners in the massive COVID-19 vaccination programme.”

”UN agencies are working closely with authorities to prepare and launch what is currently the world’s largest vaccination drive,” he told reporters at the daily press briefing, adding that as of Tuesday, the Indian government has vaccinated nearly half a million people.

India on January 16 rolled out the massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two domestically manufactured vaccines Covieshield and Covaxin are being administered to frontline health workers across the country. Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Covaxin is being produced by Bharat Biotech.

As reported by the India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, almost 4,54,049 vaccinations have been done.There have been about 580 cases of adverse effects following the vaccinations so far and two people have died. The government has said the deaths are not related to the vaccine.

As told by Stephane Dujarric, UN teams have monitored more than 4,000 vaccination sessions so far and have helped to train more than 300,000 vaccinators and healthcare workers.”We are also providing technical assistance, including helping to ensure cold-chain equipment for the vaccines,” he further added.

In India, the UN team’s work has led to a five-fold increase in investments to address gender-based violence since the start of the pandemic, he added. UN agencies have helped to train hundreds of crisis centre workers who support thousands of survivors of gender-based violence every month. We have also trained 47,000 nurses and others to address violence against women, girls and others, Dujarric said. As reported by CNBC.

A UN news release reported that, India has over 10.5 million COVID-19 infections, the second-highest in the world after the worst-hit US with over 24 million cases and more than 400,000 deaths. The virus has claimed over 150,000 lives in India. WHO representative in India, Roderico Ofrin, said the World Health Organisation has provided technical assistance to the government for the development of operational guidelines and other training materials for state and district programme managers and vaccinators, and establishing tracking and accountability frameworks.

Aside from directly supporting the vaccine rollout, UN agencies continued their programmes to assist the most vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19 and its socio-economic fallouts. Though vaccination programmes are underway, continued vigilance against COVID-19 and preventing its spread remain as important as ever, the UN said.