ICMR unveils plan to increase health research output by 30%

Viswanath Pilla
Moneycontrol News

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body that oversees biomedical research in the country, has unveiled a plan that aims at raising national health research output by 30 percent and launching at least 10 globally validated Indian traditional medicines by 2030.

The ICMR Strategic Plan-2017-24, which aims to give fillip to health research in the country, is based on five major pillars of capacity building, data management, leveraging traditional medicine, evidence to policy and strengthening program implementation through research.

For health research capacity buildup, ICMR plans to adopt a three-pronged approach of customised courses for undertaking advanced high end and basic start-up health research; strengthening the available infrastructure in elite research institutions, medical colleges, research institutions; and establishment of centres of excellence and regional mentorship hubs.

Additionally, ICMR plans to acquire an independent university or equivalent status to strongly position itself as a teaching agency and provide an opportunity to students to obtain a postgraduate or doctoral degree under the ICMR brand.

By 2030, ICMR plans to produce 100 PhDs per year, in addition to training 5,000 health personnel annually through ICMR regional hubs. ICMR will also aim to produce at least 300-500 A star Scientists in the area of health research.

"The overall focus will be on developing capacity to undertake research which will result in either prevention and control of diseases or improvement of health of the people and health systems," ICMR said.

In line with the Narendra Modi government’s policy of support to research on traditional medicines, ICMR has set a target of at least one new drug lead from traditional medicine successfully evaluated through phases of clinical trials and 10 new drugs by 2030.

“ICMR acknowledges the existence of formidable challenges in bringing traditional medicine research on the modern medicine platforms and considers that ICMR institutions have necessary skills and competencies to overcome these challenges to make the collaborative research with traditional medicine more meaningful,” ICMR said in the document.

“ICMR believes that with proper strategic backing traditional medicine can be positioned to contribute in improving the health of Indian people,” it added.

Medical research continues to be a low priority area in India, as the country spends only about 1 percent of its gross domestic product on public health, compared with 5.55 percent in China and 17.14 percent in the United States in 2014. India's per-capita expenditure on health research is less than USD 1. Despite this, India played a significant role in eliminating polio and is now focused on elimination of leprosy, kala-azar, filariasis, malaria and tuberculosis.