Page 5 - COVID 19 Efforts 31st DEC 2020

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS ON COVID-19 BY
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISER (PSA)
The Office of PSA releases a document on agenda of reprioritizing Health R&D in the context of COVID-19
COVID 19 pandemic is unprecedented in human history. It has resulted in colossal loss of life and has brought to the forefront the need of a robust healthcare system across all countries in the world.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister had prepared a report on R&D Expenditure Ecosystem in consultation with the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. It inter-alia recommended boosting of R&D investment in India to 2% of GDP by 2022. It has also highlighted the need to devote adequate resources to medical research for not only prevention of such unprecedented outbreaks but also its treatment.
The Objective of this agenda is to:
• Examine the role and relevance of R&D in the context of COVID-19
• Discuss the share of Health R&D in the context of global health spend
• Discuss the share of Health R&D in the context of India’s public expenditure on R&D and overall R&D expenditure
• Estimate Health GERD as a percentage of GDP in India and abroad
• Prepare a roadmap for boosting Health R&D for meeting COVID-19 challenge
Health R&D and its Share in Total R&D Expenditure
Public-private partnerships and other innovative mechanisms for research are concentrating on neglected diseases in order to stimulate the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics where market forces alone are insufficient.
The broad components of this public Spending are not readily available but going by OECD data, the various components of public spending on health are Medical products and appliances, Outpatient Services, Hospital Services, Public health Services and Health R&D.
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