A central intelligence agency to prevent the spread of epidemics is the need of the hour, veteran health expert Dr M V Pillai said.

Dr Pillai, who is a senior advisor to the Global Virus Network, said a National Epidemic Intelligence Centre should be founded under the leadership of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

He said the weakening of such a body in the United States was one of the reasons behind that country's failure in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19.

"The Donald Trump administration weakened the Epidemic Intelligence Service under the Centre for Disease Control. As a result, they were not aware of what was happening in Wuhan (the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak)," Dr Pillai said.

Dr Pillai also suggested to constitute an Indian Health Service in the model of the civil services. "Its cadre should be deployed in all states and should be given regular training," he said.

The US-based Oncologist was speaking to V D Satheesan MLA in his YouTube interview series.

Dr Pillai warned that coronavirus may remain in the community like a venomous snake that rear its head seasonally.

"There are some 45 viruses that are yet to come out. They may turn fatal when they transmit to animals from bats. Hence the idea of One Health assumes significance," he said.

One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment.

According to the World Health Organisation, "'One Health' is an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes."

He said the entire healthcare system will have to be restructured when the world faces the silent killers of lifestyle diseases on one side and fatal epidemics on the other.

"When the world is going through an unpredictable times, there has to be more research on the ways to live with the virus. It's a matter of hope that doctors and researchers in various countries are joining hands for that despite political differences between the nations," he said.

"Science unites what politics divides," he said.