Govt approves proposals for establishing laboratory network

The goverment has approved two Health Ministry proposals for setting up of a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities in the country and for setting up research units in 80 government medical colleges for promoting research.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared the proposal to establish 10 regionals labs, 30 state level labs and another 120 labs in medical colleges in the country to manage epidemics and natural calamities.

"The initiative will greatly help in building capacity for handling viral diseases in the country in terms of early and timely diagnosis, development of tools to predict viral disease outbreaks beforehand, continuous monitoring and surveillance of existing as well as new viral strains and handling viruses with a potential to be used as agents of bio -terrorism," he said.

The move will help in smooth data flow from across the sites of epidemics, creation of efficient knowledge management network for policy interventions like quick deployment of resources and measures like introduction of preventive strategies and new vaccines.

The proposal involves a total expenditure of Rs646.83 crore, of which the Centre will entail an expenditure of Rs 485 crore and the remaining around Rs 162 crore as states' contribution in setting up such laboratories.

Chidambaram said CCEA cleared another proposal for establishing/strengthening of multi-disciplinary research units in government medical colleges during the 12th Plan.

The project, involving a total expenditure of Rs503.85 crore, will encourage and strengthen an environment of research in the government medical colleges; bridge the gap in the infrastructure which is inhibiting health research in the medical colleges, with a view to improve the health status of the population by creating evidence based application of diagnostic procedure, processes and methods.

He said there was an urgent need to provide assistance to medical colleges to set up research facilities to promote and encourage quality medical research in the country as majority of them have confined themselves to routine patient care and are not pursuing newer methods of investigation for understanding the pathological diagnosis, treatment and management practice.

The proposal includes setting up 35 such units in this year and another 45 in medical colleges during 2014-15.

On the setting up of regional, state and medical college- level labs, while the Centre will bear full expenditure on regional labs, that on state labs will be shared between central and state governments in the ratio of 75:25 in plains and 90:10 in northeastern hill states, including Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir.