The Draft National Health Research Policy

Abstract

"In February 2011, the Department of Health Research (DHR), Government of India, came out with a draft National Health Research Policy (1). It is presumed that after due deliberation, the core of this document, with necessary amendments, will become the guideline for future medical and health research in this country. The point of departure of this document is the recognition that health is an important component of development, and that investment in health research can be a key input in social and economic development. This realisation is a direct consequence of the policy environment created by the “90/10” approach of the Global Forum for Health Research (pointing out that 90% of resources for research are spent on 10% of the global problems, which are more important to the developed world). Tacit in this approach is the admission that this key input into development has been more or less ignored for a long time; in fact this admission is made explicit in many parts of the document. In spite of having perhaps the largest number of medical and allied health training institutions in the world, our research output is pitifully low and it is concentrated in a few well-funded institutions. Many researchers of Indian origin, trained in India, have made their mark in medical and health research working in institutions abroad. All this underlines the absence of a work culture that encourages research, and the paucity of role models for youngsters who would take up research as a career. On the other hand, as the document itself admits, the “glamour” of a career in curative medicine continues to be powerful enough to attract the brightest young minds."(pg 93)