“
face to face
India’s annual
research output
currently stands at
140 publications per
million population,
which is significantly
lower than the
Western average of
about 2000
publications per
million population.
Capacity building efforts will largely be implemented
through additional scholarships for medical and
health professionals, fellowships for emerging
scientists, and training and exchange programmes.
To propel pharmaceutical manufacturing and trade,
the need for further consultation towards regulatory
alignment was emphasized along with collaborations
in producing formulation drugs in Africa in a phased
manner with supply of Active Pharmaceutical
Ingredients (APIs) from India.
The general perception on quantity and quality
of medical research happening in India is not so
encouraging. Your viewpoint? What are the
steps India must take to improve the scenario?
India’s annual research output currently stands at
140 publications per million population, which is
significantly lower than the Western average of
12
BioVoiceNews | September 2016
about 2000 publications per million population. In
order to amplify our research output, we need to
adopt an ecosystem strengthening approach by
consistently investing in human resources over the
next 15-20 years and creating attractive avenues and
rewarding career paths for research professionals
across the country. This includes attracting more
young people for higher education in the STEM
disciplines, and expanding research grants for young
investigators. At the same time, we also need to
ensure good facilities and infrastructure is available
to carry out cutting-edge research at academic
centres of excellence in the country.
In terms of the quality of our research output, I
think we are doing reasonably well. Our publications
are receiving the attention of the global academic
community, and our science and scientists are
respected at the international stage. A recent