**Summary:**
On August 22, 2025, representatives from Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and India convened in New Delhi at a regional dialogue organized by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Health Research (DHR), to strengthen health research systems across South and Southeast Asia. The initiative aims to align health research with policy, address regional health priorities, and build sustainable health systems.
Participating countries committed to collaborative action on regional priorities including One Health, pandemic preparedness, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), maternal health, and medical innovation. The ICMR offered shared tools and training resources to support emerging research systems. Structured collaboration will be facilitated through regular meetings, exchange visits, and joint capacity-building programs focusing on research methods, ethics, grant writing, and science communications.
Key areas of consensus included South-South collaboration to tackle challenges like antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and NCDs, pooling resources and expertise in areas such as medical technology innovation and field epidemiology training, and bridging research and policy through formal dialogue mechanisms. The dialogue featured participation from key figures including Dr. V.K. Paul (NITI Aayog), Shri Amit Agrawal (Department of Pharmaceuticals), Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi (Drugs Controller General of India), Prof. Dr K. Srinath Reddy (Public Health Foundation of India), Dr. Shamika Ravi (Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister), Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman (Anusandhan National Research Foundation), Shri Rajesh Bhushan (Former Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare), and Dr. Renu Swarup (Former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology). The meeting concluded with a commitment to joint action, with each country exploring leadership opportunities in specific thematic areas to address regional needs.
Key Entities Referenced
South Southeast Asian Nations: A regional group of countries including Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and India, collaborating on health research systems.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR): An Indian organization that convened the representatives and offered shared tools and training to support emerging research systems.
One Health: A collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach to achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment, identified as a regional health priority.
NITI Aayog: A policy think tank of the Government of India. Dr. V.K. Paul, a member, chaired one of the sessions.
Department of Pharmaceuticals: An Indian government department, whose secretary, Shri Amit Agrawal, chaired a session on medtech innovation.
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI): An organization where Prof. Dr K. Srinath Reddy is an Honorary Distinguished Professor.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EACPM): An advisory council to the Prime Minister, with Dr Shamika Ravi as a member.
Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF): An organization where Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman is the CEO.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
South & Southeast Asian Nations unite to strengthen
health research systems through collaboration
Representatives from Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Timor-Leste, and India met to boost collaboration,
align health research with policy, and build
sustainable, future-ready health systems in South
and Southeast Asia
Countries commit to joint action on regional health
priorities, leading efforts in One Health, pandemic
preparedness, infectious diseases, NCDs, maternal
health, and medical innovation
ICMR offers shared tools and training to support
emerging research systems, as countries agree on
structured collaboration through regular meetings,
exchange visits, and joint capacity-building in key
research areas
Posted On: 23 AUG 2025 10:28AM by PIB Delhi
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Health Research (DHR), convened
representatives from Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and India at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New
Delhi, yesterday for a high-level regional dialogue on strengthening health research systems. The meeting
marked an important milestone in fostering collaboration across South and Southeast Asia to ensure that
health research directly informs policy, addresses regional priorities, and builds sustainable systems for the
future.The deliberations were enriched by the presence of eminent experts and dignitaries, with sessions chaired by
Dr V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, Shri Amit Agrawal, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Dr
Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Drugs Controller General of India, Prof. Dr K. Srinath Reddy, Honorary
Distinguished Professor, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Dr Shamika Ravi, Member, Economic
Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO, Anusandhan
National Research Foundation (ANRF), Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Former Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare and Dr Renu Swarup, Former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology.
Sharing India’s progress in med-tech innovation, Shri Amit Agrawal, Secretary, Department of
Pharmaceuticals, who chaired a session on the subject, stated that, “India today stands at the forefront of
scientific research and innovation for health. I urge our research platform partners to actively engage with
India’s open innovation platforms, so that together we can nurture start-ups, accelerate MedTech
breakthroughs, and deliver affordable solutions that serve both economic growth and the larger public good.”Speaking at the way forward session of the meeting, Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Secretary DHR & Director-General,
ICMR, stated that “Global partnerships and science diplomacy have always been central to India’s strategy.
South–South collaboration remains a priority through joint projects and capacity building to ensure that the
region benefits from each other’s expertise. Above all, science and research must serve people directly.”
The representatives reached a consensus on several fronts:
South–South Collaboration: Countries agreed that regional cooperation is essential to tackle
(cid:108)
common challenges such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), non-communicable diseases (NCDs),
and One Health.
Pooling Resources & Expertise: Joint efforts in medical technology innovation, field epidemiology
(cid:108)training, ethics, and quality assurance were identified as priority areas.
Bridging Research & Policy: Participants committed to formal mechanisms for research–policy
(cid:108)
dialogue, ensuring that scientific evidence is translated into effective programmes.
ICMR offered to share its tools and resources, including common ethics review forms and free online training
courses, so that countries at nascent stages of building research systems can adapt them without having to start
from scratch. Looking ahead, countries agreed to establish structured mechanisms for collaboration, including
annual/biannual convenings, exchange visits, and joint capacity-building programmes in research methods,
ethics, grant writing, and science communications.
The meeting concluded with a collective commitment to move from knowledge-sharing to joint action, with
each country exploring opportunities to lead on specific thematic areas such as One Health, Pandemic
Preparedness, Infectious Diseases, Vector Borne Diseases, Non-communicable diseases, maternal health, and
medical innovation ensuring that health research across the region directly responds to regional needs and
priorities.
The event was also attended by Dr. Vishwajeet Kumar, Founder & CEO of Community Empowerment Lab
and several senior leaders from ICMR including Dr Sanghamitra Pati, Smt Manisha Saxena, Dr R.S.
Dhaliwal, Dr Roli Mathur, Dr Taruna Madan, Dr Tanvir Kaur, and Dr Nivedita Gupta, who steered
discussions as moderators.
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MV
HFW/ICMR Regional Dialogue with South & Southeast Asian Nations /23August2025/1
(Release ID: 2160028)