India’s health security, social well-being, and economic progress will increasingly depend on the strength of its health research ecosystem. As the country advances towards the national commitment of Viksit Bharat 2047, health research is expected to emerge as a strategic national capability. This capability will generate evidence for Indian conditions, develop and validate indigenous solutions, strengthen health systems, prepare for emerging threats, and contribute knowledge and solutions of value to the world.
Prepared by the Department of Health Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Draft National Health Research Policy 2026 represents the first attempt at a unified national framework spanning biomedical research, clinical medicine, public health, epidemiology, health systems, behavioural sciences, digital health, artificial intelligence, and other emerging fields. The Ministry invited public comments and suggestions on the draft policy till July 27, 2026 before it.
The policy seeks to foster a trusted, inclusive, self-reliant, adaptive, and result-driven health research ecosystem that is responsive to the healthcare needs of the people and promotes high-quality, ethical, and innovative research to improve health outcomes and equity.
Need for a New Health Research Policy
India has developed significant scientific capability through the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), universities, medical colleges, hospitals, public institutions, not-for-profit research organisations, startups, industry, field platforms, professional bodies, and communities. However, research capacity remains concentrated in a limited number of institutions and regions, with priorities not always aligning with disease burden, health-system challenges, equity concerns, preparedness requirements, and areas of strategic national importance.
The draft policy notes that fragmented research efforts, wide regional disparities in research capacity, and delayed conversion of scientific findings into healthcare delivery and public policy continue to affect the research ecosystem. Administrative, financial, and regulatory processes frequently delay funded research, while assessment systems rely heavily on publications, citations, patents, and rankings, which do not fully capture the wider value of research.
Although the earlier National Health Research Policy documents released in 2007 and revised in 2011 had highlighted similar concerns, many challenges persist. Research remains scattered across ministries; capacity continues to be concentrated in a few institutions, and evidence rarely reaches policy in a systematic manner. The Draft National Health Research Policy 2026 seeks to address these gaps by treating health research as a national problem-solving system rather than a group of disconnected studies, grants, publications, or technologies.
Vision and Core Commitments
The vision of the policy is to establish a national health research ecosystem that is capable, inclusive, self-reliant, and responsive to changing health needs, while placing India among the leading nations in health research and innovation.
The policy commits India to a health research ecosystem guided by population needs and judged by public impact. Research priorities are to be guided by disease burden, health-system challenges, equity, preparedness and strategic national importance. Public investment in health research is projected to increase steadily and predictably, complemented by responsible private, philanthropic, and non-governmental investment aligned with national priorities.
The policy is guided by public welfare and equity, scientific integrity, proportionality, transparency and openness, community participation, public trust, accountability, and adaptability. It recognises that health research must serve the health, dignity, security, and well-being of the people of India.
National Health Research Agenda
A major proposal of the draft policy is the creation of the National Health Research Agenda as the key tool for aligning research efforts and investment with national health needs. The Agenda would periodically identify priority research areas based on disease burden, scientific opportunity, equity, pandemic preparedness, and strategic national interests.
The Agenda would be transparent, reviewed at least once every five years, and developed through discussions with States, Union Territories, researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, community representatives, frontline workers, and implementers.
Research priorities would include persistent health challenges, such as tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, maternal and child health, cancer, mental health, and non-communicable diseases. The Agenda would also address diabetes, heart disease, rare diseases, healthy ageing, obesity, climate change-related health research, climate-sensitive illnesses, biosecurity, pandemic preparedness, and neglected domains.
In addition, the policy identifies digital health, artificial intelligence, health data science, cell and gene therapy, genomics, precision medicine, telemedicine, and other emerging areas as priority domains requiring continuous investment and scientific attention.
Governance Architecture
The draft policy proposes a three-tier governance structure to strengthen coordination while preserving institutional autonomy. The National Health Research Stewardship Committee would provide strategic coordination and top-level alignment without assuming executive authority or altering existing mandates.
The Department of Health Research would serve as the nodal department and coordinating authority for implementation, while the ICMR would provide scientific and technical leadership. States and Union Territories would support alignment with local health needs and integrate research more effectively with public health programmes, service delivery, and public health action.
This governance framework aims to move the health research ecosystem from fragmentation towards a unified structure and from isolated capability towards coordinated national strength while respecting existing institutional mandates.
Strengthening Research Capacity and Infrastructure
Recognising that research quality depends on institutional strength, the policy proposes expanding research infrastructure, strengthening the scientific workforce, and promoting wider access to shared research facilities. Publicly funded research infrastructure is identified as a national asset requiring collective use, wider access, and more balanced distribution across institutions and States.
The policy calls for upgrading laboratories, expanding clinical research facilities, supporting interdisciplinary collaborations, and encouraging partnerships among academia, hospitals, government, industry, and not-for-profit organisations. Medical colleges and district hospitals are envisaged as active participants in multicentre research networks rather than restricting research activities to premier institutes.
The draft also places considerable emphasis on workforce development. India currently produces about 1.5 medical science PhDs per million people each year. To address this, the policy proposes expanding MD-PhD programmes, creating clinical-scientist career tracks, establishing dedicated research posts within medical colleges, and supporting women and researchers returning from career breaks or from overseas.
Indigenous Innovation and Emerging Technologies
The policy places indigenous innovation at the centre of India’s health research ecosystem. It seeks to minimise reliance on imported healthcare technologies by encouraging the development of vaccines, diagnostic tools, medical devices, digital health platforms, artificial intelligence applications, and precision medicine technologies.
This emphasis aligns with the larger objective of Aatmanirbhar Bharat in healthcare and aims to establish India as a leader in affordable medical technologies relevant to low- and middle-income countries.
The policy recognises that data has become a key component of research infrastructure. It proposes strengthening of disease registries and biobanks while promoting secure sharing of health data across institutions. Research into big data analytics, genomics, digital health platforms, and artificial intelligence is expected to improve disease prediction, diagnosis, personalised treatment and healthcare access in undeserved regions.
Ethics, Translation, and Public Benefit
Trust has been placed at the core of the proposed research ecosystem. Ethics, research integrity, quality, responsible data governance, conflict-of-interest management, cybersecurity, participant protection, community engagement, and responsible reporting are identified as key conditions for credible and useful research.
The draft proposes reducing the administrative, financial, and regulatory barriers that delay research. Funding agencies would be required to publish turnaround times from application to project closure. Unspent funds could be carried across financial years, while a single ethics review would be permitted for multi-site studies to avoid repeated approvals for the same protocol.
Translation is recognised as a core function of the health research system. The policy emphasises that evidence and innovation must travel the full pathway to policy, programmes, clinical practice, public health action, regulation, procurement, health technology assessment, indigenous technology adoption, implementation learning, adaptation, scale, and last-mile relevance.
The policy seeks to ensure that scientific discoveries translate into real-world health benefits and tangible improvements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare delivery.
Assessment, Targets, and Implementation
A significant feature of the policy is its proposal to expand how research performance is assessed. Instead of relying primarily on publications, citations, and patents, the policy introduces the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Impact of Research and Innovation Scale as a national benchmark framework for multidimensional assessment.
Research would also be evaluated based on clinical translation, policy influence, indigenous technologies, institutional strengthening, guidance, capacity building, community benefit, equity, and societal impact.
The policy establishes long-term national targets covering health research investment as a share of GDP, medical science PhDs per million population, health research publications, life sciences patents, approved indigenous health technologies, and composite global standing in health sciences research.
Health research investment currently stands at 0.024 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. The draft proposes increasing this to 0.072 per cent by 2037 and 0.15 per cent by 2047. Implementation is expected to proceed through stepwise and adaptive action rather than rigid timelines, allowing for institutional readiness, resource availability, statutory requirements, and decisions of competent authorities.
Way Forward
The Draft National Health Research Policy 2026 presents a framework for building a reliable, adaptive, inclusive, self-reliant, and result-oriented health research ecosystem for India. By aligning research with disease burden, public health priorities, indigenous innovation, and measurable results, it seeks to ensure that health research contributes directly to policy, practice, programmes, and public benefit.
Its success would, however, depend on whether India can create an ecosystem capable of generating the evidence, technologies, implementation experience, and innovative health solutions required by its people. Through stronger implementation pathways, coordinated and integrated governance, sustained investment, and accountability, the policy aspires to strengthen India’s health research landscape and contribute knowledge and solutions of value to the world.
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