Introduction:
The discipline of Clinical Pharmacology was
started in 1960s in India and it contributed to development of new
drugs, regimens, rational use of drugs, pharmacogenetic etc. This was
mostly done in a few academic, ICMR, CSIR Institutions &
Pharmaceutical Industry. The Eleventh five year plan of Govt. of India
(2006-2011 ) envisaged reduction in infant mortality rate and maternal
mortality ratio, reduction in malaria and dengue mortality,
maintaining DOTS coverage & response, enhancement in public health
spending of GDP, increase in infrastructure and human resources.
Medicines form a substantial amount of out of pocket expenses but
account for only 10% of overall public health budget. 11th
plan envisaged developing essential medicines list, standard treatment
guidelines, safe drugs, their rational use and dissemination of
information.
Now the discipline of
Clinical Pharmacology needs to grow exponentially to meet the future
challenges & opportunities of the projected growth of
pharmaceutical industry to 20 billion by 2020, competition with other
emerging markets, the predicted strategies of
pharmaceutical industry to collaborate with health care providers,.
Since inception ICMR has been supporting Clinical Pharmacology.
Plan:
In its centenary year
ICMR has proposed a major boost to developing clinical pharmacology in
India.
Capacity building, human resource development, training
programs with hands on experience catering to industry, public health,
research and services have been planned.
The proposal for 12th
plan has envisaged development of centres of excellence, outcome
research, computerization, interdisciplinary consortia, research in
advancing areas of technology relevant to Clinical Pharmacology,
Pharmacovigilance, economics, rational use of drugs, ethics and
regulatory requirements.
Workshops:
As a first step in
this direction, workshops in specialized areas have been planned and
applications are invited.
1.
Modular Course on
Pharmacovigilance
2.
Antibiotic
Stewardship, Prevention of Infection and Control (ASPIC)
3.
Research Training
Program: From Idea (I)/ Research Question to a Grant Proposal (I2P)
and to Manuscript for Publication (I2M).
4.
Research Methodology
Workshop in Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics (PK/PD).
5.
Statistical Concepts for Clinical Research–A
Non-mathematical workshop (Announcement
awaited).