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Centre will review clinical trial process: Anbumani

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The government will review the policy of clinical trials, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Friday.

This follows the death of 49 children during clinical trials at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences since 2006.

Talking to journalists after the inauguration of a national consultation on “Millennium Development Goals and the Socially Excluded,” organised by the Institute of Dalit Studies here, Dr. Ramadoss said the government would not let “Indians be used as guinea pigs.” The country had a number of checks and controls and no clinical trial could be carried out without regulation.

Pointing out that no multinational company could do a phase-I trial in India, Dr. Ramadoss said the government would review the entire clinical trial process.

Dr. Ramadoss, however, said that the facts about the AIIMS incident had been incorrectly presented. All the 49 children were very sick and the deaths were not the result of any particular drug.

Need of the hour

“We can have a broad discussion on the subject in the country but, at the same time, I would say that India has become the hub of a lot of research activities which is the need of the hour,” he said.

Earlier speaking at the function, Dr. Ramadoss said that no policy could be effective without taking into consideration the social reality of exclusion.

Pointing to the huge correlation between the low health indicators and social deprivation among the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward sections and minorities, Dr. Ramadoss said that development had to be an all-inclusive process and without including deprived sections the growth could not be real.

Overall development

Talking about better socio-economic profile of the south, Dr. Ramadoss said that social inclusion had been brought about through the in-depth reservation policies that had led to an overall development. The Minister said infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and under-nourishment among the SCs and the STs continued to pose challenges. However, indicators with regard to sex ratio were much better in these communities.

Dr. Ramadoss expressed satisfaction over the achievements made by the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) in improving the healthcare facilities.

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