Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Government of India aims to fund for more drug research to combat antibiotic resistance

Contributed by Siddarth David & Dr. Tamhankar



Given the need to urgently address the problem of drug resistance the government of India is planning to develop more research in drugs and vaccines in the coming months. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has planned several programs and global partnerships to give a thrust to this area. Investment in specific research for a few thousand crores can expected in the coming months, said the Secretary of DBT K Raghavan.

Antibiotic resistance is  a critical public health concern in India that requires interventions at multiple levels. This is a positive step by the government to ensure that technological advances, partnerships and strong research can highlight the issues and solutions to the problem in the Indian context. This can be used as a tool to push for policy changes to ensure measures to control the challenge of antibiotic resistance.