THE Department of Health Research (DHR), a wing of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has proposed a national health research policy. The department has been in existence for almost two decades, but it has woken up only now to the fact that India lacks a dedicated policy on health research.AdvertisementAs per the R&D data released in July, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the flagship agency for health research in the country, receives just 3.3% of the national R&D funding, while defence and space get 32% and 15%, respectively. India’s expenditure on R&D itself is abysmally low...