Draft National Health Research Policy 2026 Charts a New Roadmap for India’s Health Research Ecosystem
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The Ministry has invited stakeholder feedback before finalising the policy.
The Union government has unveiled the Draft National Health Research Policy 2026, proposing a comprehensive overhaul of India's health research ecosystem through a unified national framework that prioritises disease burden, digital health, artificial intelligence, indigenous innovation, and stronger coordination between research institutions, governments, and industry.
The draft, prepared by the Department of Health Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is the first policy to bring together biomedical sciences, clinical medicine, public health, epidemiology, health systems, behavioural sciences, digital health, artificial intelligence, and other emerging fields under a single national strategy.
The Ministry has invited stakeholder feedback before finalising the policy.
The policy proposes the creation of the National Health Research Agenda (NHRA), which will periodically identify priority research areas based on disease burden, scientific opportunity, equity, strategic national interests, and pandemic preparedness.
The agenda will also encourage consultation with States, Union Territories, researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, and community representatives.
The draft policy has also proposed a three-tier governance model comprising a National Health Research Stewardship Committee for strategic oversight, the Department of Health Research as the coordinating authority, and ICMR as the scientific and technical lead.
States will be encouraged to integrate research more closely with healthcare delivery and existing public health programmes, while those with established research councils may continue using their current institutional structures.
Research priorities will extend beyond long-standing public health challenges such as tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, maternal and child health, cancer, mental health, and non-communicable diseases.
The policy has also identified digital health, artificial intelligence, health data science, cell and gene therapy, obesity, and climate change-related health research as emerging priority areas.
The National Health Research Agenda will be reviewed at least once every five years to reflect epidemiological changes, technological advances, and national requirements.
The policy further proposes reducing administrative, financial, and regulatory barriers that delay research, expanding access to publicly funded research infrastructure, strengthening the scientific workforce, promoting collaborations between academia, industry, government, and non-profit organisations, and reinforcing ethics, data governance, cybersecurity, and research integrity.
Moreover, rather than relying primarily on publications, citations, and patents, research performance would also be assessed based on its contribution to health policies, clinical practice, indigenous technologies, health programmes, institutional capacity, equity, and broader societal impact.
The policy also outlines long-term national goals for research investment, medical science PhDs, scientific publications, patents, and indigenous health technologies in line with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
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