The Union Health Ministry is aggressively pushing the research institutions and agencies to speed up the work on developing and to launch diagnostic strips for mass use at affordable prices, ahead of the general elections coming up next year.

The agencies like Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) have been directed to launch a series of the diagnostic strips, at least one in every month, running up to the Parliament elections. The strips are expected to bring down the diagnosis costs drastically.

“I have given ICMR a deadline. From November this year, every month, there will be a new product. For the next one year, we will thus see the launch of something new,” Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad himself disclosed the intention of the government at a function here recently.

Commenting on this, ICMR director general Dr V M Katoch said works on 30 projects are underway by different institutes. A dozen projects are in advanced stage. “We hope to launch a few of them by December,” Dr Katoch told Pharmabiz on the sidelines of the function.

One of those strips expected to attract the fancies of the people ahead of the elections will be the strip for diabetes which will bring down the diagnosis costs by 90 per cent. The cost at present for diabetes strip is up to Rs.30 and the government is looking to launch the strips that will cost only Rs.Three to five per test.

The technologies under development include testing strips for methods of mosquito control and diagnostic tests for TB, lung fluke, dengue, several other infections and cancer. The work is progressing as per schedule and work on 30 such technologies expected to be completed by 2014, sources said.

Under the initiative, ICMR institutions, state medical colleges and State health departments will work together to transfer modern, yet affordable technologies for the benefits of larger section of the rural population, sources said.

India is home to 62 million diabetics, second only to China which has 92.3 million diabetics. By 2030, India's diabetes numbers are expected to cross the 100 million mark according to a 2012 report by International Diabetes Federation.