DHR-ICMR Hosts Regional Meet on Health Research, Innovation and Collaboration

Delivering the plenary address, Dr. V.K. Paul, Member of NITI Aayog, applauded the participating nations for their steady advances in public health and healthcare delivery.

The Department of Health Research (DHR) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) jointly inaugurated a two-day regional conference in New Delhi titled “Health Research and Innovations in Public Health: Exchange of Good Practices across RESEARCH Platform.” The event, held at the Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, marked a milestone in fostering solidarity, knowledge-sharing, and innovation in health systems across South and Southeast Asia.

The meeting brought together senior representatives and health experts from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Timor-Leste, who joined Indian policymakers and researchers to deliberate on ways to strengthen health research ecosystems, promote innovation, and build collective resilience against public health challenges.

Building Regional Solidarity through the RESEARCH Platform

The conference is part of the Regional Enabler for South and Southeast Asia Research for Health (RESEARCH) Platform, an initiative designed to facilitate cross-border collaboration and amplify regional voices in global health discussions. It aims to create a shared narrative where participating countries can jointly generate evidence, design solutions tailored to local realities, and accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Plenary Address: Science into Action

Delivering the plenary address, Dr. V.K. Paul, Member of NITI Aayog, applauded the participating nations for their steady advances in public health and healthcare delivery.

“The progress we see across these countries is a testament to their commitment to health. There is tremendous scope for us to learn from each other, co-create research products, and translate science into action. By working together, we can accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs across the region,” Dr. Paul said.

He also stressed that the regional platform provides an opportunity to pool knowledge and resources, ensuring no country is left behind in building robust, equitable health systems.

Shaping the Region’s Own Narrative

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research and Director-General of ICMR, underlined the need for countries to define their own regional research priorities, rather than relying solely on global agendas.

“The issues we face are common to all of us, and it is time for our region to move towards shaping its own narrative. Research is the way forward, and by learning from each other’s research ecosystems, we can build stronger systems, generate knowledge that reflects our realities, and translate it into better health for our people,” Dr. Bahl said.

Shared Health Challenges

Country representatives from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Timor-Leste emphasised the shared health challenges across the region. These include:

• Anaemia and maternal & child health issues.

• Tuberculosis and vector-borne diseases.

• The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancers.

Speakers underscored the importance of government stewardship in ensuring public trust in science, sustained investments in research capacity, and the need to expand infrastructure to support public health innovation.

Launch of Medical Innovation Exhibition

On the sidelines of the meeting, Dr. Paul inaugurated an exhibition of medical innovations supported by the ICMR’s Medical Device and Diagnostics Mission Secretariat (MDMS). The showcase included affordable diagnostic kits, portable devices, and indigenous technologies aimed at addressing pressing healthcare challenges in India, while also being scalable for use in neighbouring countries.

The exhibition highlighted how homegrown innovation can bridge gaps in access, affordability, and quality of healthcare.

Forward-Looking Deliberations

Over the course of the two-day event, participating countries will deliberate on a wide range of issues, including:

• Governance structures for research systems.

• Financing mechanisms and sustainability of health research.

• Approaches to prioritising research agendas.

• Ensuring ethics, transparency, and accountability in research.

• Translating research into policy, programmes, and practice.

• Fostering medical technology innovations and cross-sector collaborations.

The discussions will also explore new frameworks for international partnerships that can help amplify regional innovation on the global stage.

A Milestone in Regional Cooperation

This first-of-its-kind gathering signals a strong intent among South and Southeast Asian countries to work together on health research and innovation. By joining forces under the RESEARCH Platform, participants have committed to co-creating solutions, strengthening systems, and harnessing science to achieve universal health coverage.

The conference has been hailed as a significant step in building a regional ecosystem of collaboration, one that not only addresses local health challenges but also contributes to shaping the global discourse on inclusive and sustainable health innovation.