Draft National Health Research Policy, 2026 released; aims to restructure India’s health research ecosystem
The Union government has released a draft National Health Research Policy, 2026 to align health research with disease burden, public-health priorities and evidence-based policymaking.
- The Department of Health Research has prepared the draft National Health Research Policy, 2026 and is proposed as the nodal implementing agency.
- The Indian Council of Medical Research is proposed as the scientific and technical lead in the draft National Health Research Policy, 2026.
- The draft National Health Research Policy, 2026 proposes a National Health Research Stewardship Committee for strategic coordination.
- The draft proposes periodic identification of priority research areas using disease burden, scientific opportunity, equity, pandemic preparedness and strategic national interest.
The Union government has released a draft National Health Research Policy, 2026 through the Department of Health Research. The draft seeks to align India’s health research system with disease burden, public-health priorities and evidence-based policymaking, and it invites stakeholder feedback before finalisation.
The draft policy treats health research as a national system rather than a collection of isolated projects. It proposes a unified framework covering biomedical science, clinical medicine, public health, epidemiology, digital health, health systems, behavioural sciences and emerging technologies.
Why the policy was proposed
UPSC can frame the draft National Health Research Policy, 2026 as a question on how India can link scientific research with health-system needs, regional equity, ethics, data governance and translation of evidence into policy and care. The topic also fits questions on institutional design, cooperative federalism in health, and the role of research in pandemic preparedness.
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