(a) whether a proposal to develop an indigenous kit to detect the SARS virus is under the consideration of the Government;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the country from which the kit used in PCR test is imported at present; and
(d) the cost of this imported kit ?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI A. RAJA)
(a) to (d): There is no proposal to develop indigenous test kits for SARS as they are still under validation in designated laboratories all over the world. The primers used in PCR test were initially supplied by M/s. Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamberg, Germany free of cost. Since the full sequence of SARS Corona virus is now available, it is easy to make our own PCR primers. At present there is no need to import kit for PCR test