India will cooperate in the development of vaccines and drugs to fight the Ebola virus "for the poorest of the poor at realistic prices", local media reported on Saturday.
The Indian ambassador to the U.N. Asoke Kumar Mukerji told the U.N. General Assembly Friday that the international community must support research and development of a vaccine to cure Ebola, which must be made available especially to the poorest of the poor at realistic prices.
"India is committed to cooperation to this end," Indo-Asian News Service quoted Mukerji as saying.
"India has a track record of participating actively in multilateral efforts to tackle public health emergencies like our response to the HIV/AIDS issue a decade ago in Africa and Asia."
U.N. has warned that the Ebola outbreak "could quickly evolve from a regional to an international crisis".
"India has put in place several measures to deal with the possible threat within the country and activated the relevant national disaster response mechanisms to maintain high alert," the Indian official said.
The world body has set up the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to mobilize action against the crisis currently ravaging Western African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where over 4,000 have been killed by the plague so far.