The Union Health Ministry has approved the budget for the Department of Health Research’s (DHR) plan to improve health research and research infrastructure in India as part of the DHR’s new mandate to promote research. The plan will create 80 multidisciplinary research units (MRUs) at India’s medical colleges and research facilities. An investment of INR 503.9 crore ($90.2 million) will establish 35 MRUs in fiscal 2014 and 45 MRUs in fiscal 2015. MRUs will consult with local research committees to select the most important research projects. A key research area will be noncommunicable diseases. The plan is also intended to promote evidence-based approaches and improve quality. It aims to expand the presence of such facilities to medical colleges and research facilities with inadequate research infrastructure.

Source: pharmabiz.com