Government News

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the partnership between Department of Biotechnology and Cancer Research UK for the India-UK India-UK Cancer Research Initiative was signed today in New Delhi.The India-UK Cancer Research Initiative is a collaborative 5-year bilateral research initiative by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, India and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) that will focus on affordable approaches to cancer. Both CRUK and DBT will invest £5m each in this 5-year pilot, and seek further investment from other potential funding partners.

[adsense:336x280:8701650588]

The Health Ministry has taken up several focused and targeted schemes for addressing nutrition challenges in the country in a convergence mode with the other Ministries.We have focussed on Immunisation, detection and supplementation.  This was stated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare at the 3rd meeting of the “National Council on India’s Nutrition Challanges” in presence of Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development.

Manufacturing inspections are one of the FDA’s most important tools for ensuring the quality of pharmaceutical products used by American patients. Inspections help us to identify manufacturing issues that could pose potential risks to patients, or problems that could contribute to drug shortages, enabling us to engage manufacturers to address and resolve issues.

The National Institutes of Health will fund the collection of information from women with disabilities who give birth in the United States to supplement the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS).

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBITC) under the Union finance ministry clarifies on procedure in respect of return of expired drugs under Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Every day around 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk. Tragically, many of them die: WHO estimates that in 2016, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is pausing the CONCERT-HF trial, which involves patients with chronic heart failure. Recent calls for the retraction of journal articles in related fields of cell therapy research have raised concerns about the scientific foundations of this trial. While none of the articles in question derive from the CONCERT-HF trial itself, the NHLBI convened CONCERT-HF’s Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) out of an abundance of caution to ensure the study continues to meet the highest standards for participant safety and scientific integrity. Informed by the DSMB recommendations of October 25, 2018, the NHLBI is pausing the trial. While the DSMB did not have any participant safety concerns, this pause enables the DSMB to complete its review.

Thirteen researchers have been selected for the inaugural class of the National Institutes of Health’s Distinguished Scholars Program (DSP). The NIH-wide pilot program is designed to build diversity within the NIH Intramural Research Program, comprised of NIH scientists, by facilitating hiring and career progression of tenure-track investigators who have demonstrated a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the biomedical research workforce.

NITI Aayog launched the Guidelines and Model Concessionaire Agreement, MCA for Public Private Partnership, PPP for Non Communicable Diseases. The documents have been designed to supplement efforts for provision of prevention and treatment services of non-communicable diseases related to Cardiac Sciences, Oncology, and Pulmonary Sciences at the district hospitals especially in tier 2 & 3 cities.