The 12th annual ISCR Conference was recently held in Delhi, where the theme was “Advancing the frontiers of health”. More than 500 clinical research professionals attended the conference to discuss how clinical trial reforms would build the future of Indian research and opportunities in India.
The President of ISCR, Dr. Chirag Trivedi, said, “The changing profile of diseases affecting the Indian population, the continuing high prevalence of endemic diseases and the emergence of lifestyle diseases all point to an urgent need for greater investment in research and innovation to address India’s increasing disease burden and the incremental costs associated with it. Stakeholders need to work together to build and strengthen the clinical research ecosystem in the country and create an environment that encourages more research. At the same time, there is a need for more education and awareness about clinical research and its benefits not just to participating patients, but also to society at large.”
Simultaneously, the Senior Director at Clinical Cardiology & Head of Research at Medanta, Dr, Sanjay Mittal, said, “Clinical research in India is governed by robust local and global regulations which makes India amongst the most stringent clinical research regulatory environments in the world. In such an environment, we need to encourage, not deter, not-for-profit organizations, institutions, and Bio-pharma companies from doing more research in India. Participating in clinical research exposes us to the latest trends and treatment protocols which, in turn, benefits our practice and patients.”
At present, the clinical trials being done in India is only at 1.2%, which is absolutely inadequate for a country that has the second highest population in the world, and the largest disease burden. Looking at this small number, the ISCR annual conference examined and discussed various perspectives about clinical research, keeping in mind everyone from patients to regulators, and investigators to academia. Along with this, there was also focus on medical writing, data management, and Biostatistics.
Dr. Chirag Trivedi said that it is important for more to be done to hightlight the robust regulatory environment in India to stakeholders across the globe, so that more investment in Indian clinical research can be encouraged. This will help to give momentum to the Indian Government’s “Make In India” initiative. In his words, he said, “We are as committed to the DCGI’s commitment to making safe, efficacious, affordable and quality medicinal products for our people. If we can have a Make in India for other goods and services, why cannot we have a Make in India for clinical research too?”.
For our country to boost up on the clinical research front, there are a number of factors that play important roles. These include epidemiology, disease prevelance, good infrastructure, future commercial plans for new medicines, and much more. One another very important element here is qualified and well-trained professionals who can come up with the best trials for all kinds of diseases. More clinical research is required to develop new and effective medicines and vaccines so that unmet medical needs can be met, and the disease burden can be reduced.
If you realize the problem that our country’s clinical research system is facing, you can lend a helping hand by taking up clinical research as a career, and bringing yp your country’s clinical research image, as well as boosting the health of every Indian. For this, you can get enrolled at one of the best institutes to study and gain a legitimate post graduate diploma in clinical research in Bangalore; and one such institute is Avigna Clinical Research Institute!
