To support long-term Indo-Swedish research and innovation collaboration in the field of health, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) will soon begin collaborative research in the areas of medical diagnostics, medical devices, antimicrobial resistance, etc.

This collaborative research programme will stimulate R&D projects in companies and at universities, to long-term development of strong research and innovation environments in a number of broad scientific areas. The programme encourages cooperation between industry, academia and the public sector to ensure maximum relevance and impact. Project proposals are requested to include a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and a societal challenge perspective in their application.

Innovation is essential for meeting economic and societal challenges and for ensuring prosperity and quality of life. DBT and VINNOVA, invests in R&D to strengthen innovative capacity for competitiveness, sustainable development and growth.

The goal of the programme is to support long-term Indo-Swedish research and innovation collaboration in the field of Health. The approach is to establish and strengthen collaborative industry and research networks between India and Sweden by funding joint research and innovation projects, exchange visits, demonstration and proof of principle.

Collaborative research and innovation projects should be set up under one or more of the broad health areas, address a societal challenge, and should provide economical, societal and environmentally sustainable solutions.

One of the broad health areas of the programme is medical diagnostics. Under this, the focus should be on addressing and improving needs of understanding health, disease and disease processes at all ages including pre-natal, to develop new and more effective medical diagnostics. Innovative and existing technologies can be developed so that they can be adapted to different environmental and socio-economic conditions in both pre- hospital as well as in hospital settings.

Another area of this programme is medical devices. Under this programme, the focus will be on addressing innovative solutions for diagnosis, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, that could improve health and quality of life for patients, disabled persons and their families and contribute to addressing the sustainability of healthcare systems. Support will be provided for generating appropriate and affordable health technologies by development of new innovative and exsisting technologies, by integration and use of methods in both pre-hospital and hospital settings.

Antimicrobial resistance – Innovative treatment, diagnostics and preventive strategies is yet another area of research under this programme and the thrust will be on development of agents with novel antibacterial mechanisms or which re-sensitize resistant bacteria to conventional antibiotics.  Focus will also be on addressing the need for point-of-care testing (POCT) to improve treatment outcomes and efficient utilization of health resources. Development and evaluation of antimicrobial resistance control strategies to reduce the risk of acquisition, transmission and infection by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in inpatient and community settings.

Another area of the research is eHealth for OneHealth. Novel IT-based solutions for patient’s ability to monitor and track health status, to easier connect and communicate with health care services or to better comply with treatment. Innovative solutions should be highly aware of the patient’s perspective and his/her experience of a holistic and integrated health care.

The programme is open to Indian and Swedish industry, researchers and public or private nonprofit institutions that develop and perform R&D activities. This includes universities and other academic institutions, research institutions, hospitals, non- governmental organisations and public foundations.