AP technician selected for ICG to study vector-borne diseases

Vijayawada: Technician of the Andhra Pradesh Central Malaria Lab MV Lakshmi Subhadra has been selected to work in the most coveted International Core Group (ICG) for studying vector-borne diseases in various countries across the globe.

The ICG will study the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases like Malaria, Dengue, Lymphatic Filariasis, Japanese Encephalitis and Chikungunya and others.

MV Lakshmi Subhadra has cracked the Level-1 entry in the international External Competence Assessment of Malaria Microscopists’ (ECAMM) week-long examination that concluded on Friday at the National Centre for Vector-Borne Disease Control (NCVBDC) headquarters in New Delhi.

Participants were given a task to detect the parasites in the slides from the Philippines international research laboratory. WHO-certified external facilitators were deployed as external observers for this examination.

In all 22 technicians from 12 states, only three were selected for Level-1 status.

While one of the three is a retired Chief Technical Officer of International Council for Medical Research (ICMR) the other is a retired technician in National Reference Lab at New Delhi. Subhadra is the only technician working at ground level who got this recognition.

She is presently working as Lab Technician in Central Malaria Lab in Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh).

She has been consistently contributing her services beginning from her posting in late 1990s in the remote tribal areas of Paderu where locals affectionately call her as “Malaria Amma” even today, said Dr Subrhramanyeswari, AP State Programme Officer (SPO) and Additional Director of Medical & Health.