India takes its first step towards opening door to Controlled Human Infection Studies
1 year, 4 months ago

India takes its first step towards opening door to Controlled Human Infection Studies

The Hindu  

India has taken its first step to introduce Controlled Human Infection Studies, used in many countries for vaccine and treatment development. “This paper is aimed at addressing a variety of ethical issues so that research can be conducted in India without compromising on ethical principles while ensuring the protection of human participants,” notes ICMR. ICMR notes that India has so far stayed away from CHIS, because regardless of the potential scientific benefits, these studies are ethically sensitive and raise concerns about contentious research ethics — issues like deliberate harm, possible disproportionate payment and hence inducements, third-party risk, withdrawal from the study and research with vulnerable participants. CHIS is a relatively new research model that helps provide unique insights into disease pathogenesis and can accelerate the development of novel medical interventions, said ICMR.

Research Ethical Icmr India Takes Chis Studies India  unit  human  study  controlled  opening  diseases  studies  india  takes  door  issues  infection  research  chis  step  ethical  notes

History of this topic

Is India ready for Controlled Human Infection Studies? | In Focus podcast
1 year, 3 months ago

Is India ready for Controlled Human Infection Studies? | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

How do we understand how an infection affects the human body? One way scientists do this is through Controlled Human Infection Studies or CHIS, also known as human challenge studies. India has so far stayed away from such studies, because of the many ethical issues involved: the deliberate harm caused and the potential risk of exploitation since volunteers are paid …

Health Matters | In search of freedom from malaise
1 year, 4 months ago

Health Matters | In search of freedom from malaise

The Hindu  

It is practically nigh possible to ignore the tricolour or the passions it whips up in people of this country. Meanwhile, the results of a study by two NGOs in Tamil Nadu found several environmental and pollution issues affecting villagers in and around the two power stations in Chennai’s Neyveli and Cuddalore. A study showed how targeted sensitising of health …

Navigating global governance, national strategies, and ethics in biowarfare
1 year, 4 months ago

Navigating global governance, national strategies, and ethics in biowarfare

Hindustan Times  

Biological weapons can come from naturally occurring microbes and viruses; but innovations in genomic editing are opening up new, potentially more threatening avenues for their development. This paper discusses the historical and contemporary landscape of biowarfare, and outlines global and national efforts to govern and address innovations in biowarfare due to rapidly emerging technology. The term ‘biotechnology’ can refer to …

Health Matters | Treating diseases — going back to go forward
1 year, 4 months ago

Health Matters | Treating diseases — going back to go forward

The Hindu  

It’s rare that we have, in these parts, a real medical whodunit, an unravelling of a medical mystery, nearly 200 years post facto too. In this context, they wonder if India’s research spending is adequate at all, and whether these funds effectively address the country’s health needs and prioritise the right disease areas. The IIPS works under the Union Ministry …

Explained | Are human challenge studies effective?
1 year, 4 months ago

Explained | Are human challenge studies effective?

The Hindu  

The story so far: On July 17, the ICMR Bioethics Unit posted the consensus policy statement for the ethical conduct of controlled human infection studies, also known as human challenge studies, in India. The second major difference is that traditional clinical trials are undertaken to study the safety and efficacy of drugs and vaccines, whereas human challenge studies are carried …

Is India’s health research aligned with India’s health needs?
1 year, 4 months ago

Is India’s health research aligned with India’s health needs?

The Hindu  

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified discussions around health and well-being. Research focus v. disease burden The crucial role of healthcare research in advancing public health is undeniable, yet India’s research spending remains low. We used the World Health Organisation’s 2000-2019 ‘Global Health Estimates’ on DALYs to estimate the burden of diseases and the number of scientific publications to evaluate research efforts. …

Welcome development: The Hindu Editorial on the ICMR and Controlled Human Infection Studies
1 year, 4 months ago

Welcome development: The Hindu Editorial on the ICMR and Controlled Human Infection Studies

The Hindu  

With the Bioethics Unit of the Indian Council of Medical Research placing a consensus policy statement on Controlled Human Infection Studies for comments, India has taken the first step in clearing the deck for such studies to be undertaken here. CHIS, also called human challenge studies, where healthy volunteers are intentionally exposed to a disease-causing microbe in a highly controlled …

US eager to involve Indian investigators in clinical trials on COVID-19, says Anthony Fauci
3 years, 6 months ago

US eager to involve Indian investigators in clinical trials on COVID-19, says Anthony Fauci

Firstpost  

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has a long history of collaboration with its counterpart agencies in India, Fauci said at the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum Washington: America’s top infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci on Thursday said his country is eager to involve Indian investigators in global clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of …

‘75% People Must be Immune’: Lessons from Polio, HIV/AIDS Fight as India Readies for Covid Vaccination
3 years, 11 months ago

‘75% People Must be Immune’: Lessons from Polio, HIV/AIDS Fight as India Readies for Covid Vaccination

News 18  

As India enters the new year, the country is nearing completion of appraisals for regulatory approval of a vaccine against coronavirus. This involves tasks ranging from storage, last mile delivery to actual vaccination and public messaging to convince people to get the vaccine. The mass vaccination drive for Polio was the last time the country faced up to the daunting …

India must take the lead in devising bio-defences
4 years, 3 months ago

India must take the lead in devising bio-defences

Hindustan Times  

Although China may not have deliberately created Covid-19, it is possible that its release was the result of a lab accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been doing “gain-of-function” research on bat coronaviruses. It is time for India to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by the coronavirus — and to implement the grand plans to …

India is a constructive, dependable actor globally, writes Harsh Vardhan Shringla
4 years, 4 months ago

India is a constructive, dependable actor globally, writes Harsh Vardhan Shringla

Hindustan Times  

Covid-19 continues to exact a heavy toll worldwide. The repatriation of Indian nationals stranded abroad and the evacuation of foreigners from India to their home countries have been among the most successful aspects of our response High recovery and low-fatality outcomes can be attributed to proactive measures taken to deal with the outbreak from its early stages. The repatriation of …

Human Challenge Trial Neither Essential Nor Ethically Justified at This Time, Says US Expert Anthony Fauci
4 years, 4 months ago

Human Challenge Trial Neither Essential Nor Ethically Justified at This Time, Says US Expert Anthony Fauci

News 18  

Human challenge trials to test Covid-19 vaccines are not necessary at this time as randomised controlled trials are quite feasible owing to the high incidence of the infectious disease, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US. These factors have led us to conclude that human challenge trials are not essential …

Coronavirus | India has key vaccine role: Anthony Fauci
4 years, 4 months ago

Coronavirus | India has key vaccine role: Anthony Fauci

The Hindu  

Anthony Fauci, top infectious disease specialist and senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump on COVID-19, on Thursday said that India would play a critical role in supplying the world with a COVID-19 vaccine. At a web conference organised by the Indian Council for Medical Research, he, however, underlined that though the threat posed by COVID-19 was grave, it was …

Discover Related