Vaccine equity is very important; only the Universal Immunisation Programme can achieve it: Gagandeep Kang

Every child has a right to be protected – that is something only the UIP can do, says Dr. Kang, who was principal investigator in the phase III trials of the Rotovac vaccine; she also stresses the need to build trust in science, with openness about what we do and do not know

As the principal investigator in the phase III trials of the Rotovac vaccine to prevent rotavirus related gastroenteritis Gagandeep Kang is “very excited” with the publication of the results of a study that established the effectiveness of the vaccine, country wide.

Currently director of the global health team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, responsible for enterics, diagnostics, epidemiology and genomics portfolio, Dr. Kang, in a previous position with the Christian Medical College, Vellore, built extensive surveillance networks to study enteric infections, the category in which rotavirus falls. This body of work provided crucial insights into the epidemiology of the disease and helped create and clinically test Rotovac, a vaccine developed by the Department of Biotechnology, Bharat Biotech, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Stanford University, and PATH, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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