Minister of State for Health (Delhi) today directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to prioritise the elimination of kala azar, leprosy, tuberculosis, and malaria.
 

The MoS asserted that the ICMR should work on a mission mode to achieve the target by 2018-end. The minister also stressed on the need to increase Viral Research Diagnostics Laboratories (VRDL) in states, including in Uttar Pradesh, and directed officials to set up more Multi-Disciplinary Research Units in the northeastern states. The minister held a high-level meeting on 23 February to review the activities and achievements of the Department of Health Research (DHR) and the ICMR.

"She also directed the ICMR for prioritising the elimination of kala azar and leprosy, and said the ICMR should work on a mission mode to achieve the target by the end of 2018. It should work similarly to eliminate TB and malaria," an official statement said. The minister noted that the ministry had only 14 Model Rural Health Research Units (MRHRUs) across all states and added "there should be one in each state."

She said the ICMR and the DHR should work with all medical colleges and increase the number of grants or fellowships under the Grant-in-aid Scheme (GIA) and the Human Resource Development Scheme (HRD). The DHR and the ICMR conveyed to the minister that the establishment of the Health Technology Assessment in India was a remarkable step towards the achievement of a Universal Health Care, one of the targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "The minister directed the DHR and the ICMR to take the Health Technology Assessment forward with all the state health departments," the statement said.