Cuts in the health budget have started hurting medical research in India.
Cuts in the health budget have started hurting medical research in India. The head of the top medical research body — the Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR) — Dr Saumya Swaminathan on Thursday said that many projects are off-track due to the shortage of funds. “While we had sought '10,000 crore for the 12th Five-Year Plan, we have got less than 50 per cent. We are facing a crisis in funds for the last three-four years. Due to this, many projects are not on track. Field studies are not cheap, you need manpower and technology — for both government has to invest. The private sector cannot invest in the research work 100 per cent,” she said, adding that the health research budget in India was less than one dollar per person. With the hope that the forthcoming Budget Session fulfils their demand of fund requirement, Dr Swaminathan said that the meagre spending on health and a long and slow procurement process is affecting medical research work, putting India at a much disadvantaged stage when compared with the other parts of the world.
Citing that the research institutions have to be cutting edge in order to compete globally. Dr Swaminathan said that “additional funds” are needed. “Today, the situation is such that in the West, if you order a reagent for an experiment, you order it and get it the next morning. The researchers have funds and freedom too. However, in India there is a long process to be followed before purchases can be made. It takes at least six months to get a reagent for an experiment. By the time our scientist gets down to starting his or her experiment, someone else has already done it,” Dr Swaminathan added.
According to her, projects like creating a network of viral diagnostic surveillance laboratories across the country to test new viral outbreak, their link with animals as many new emerging infections like Ebola, H1N1, H5N1 have their linkage with animals, advanced experiments for anaemic children where efforts, were on to fortify some foods, have all been stalled due to scarcity of funds.
