How clinical research and trials are making healthcare more affordable and accessible

Both clinical research and trials are vital to enhance health, lengthening life, and reducing the burdens of illness and disability.

- Dr. Upasana Shukla

With healthcare costs constantly rising and the reforming of healthcare systems, there is an urgent need to reshape the Indian clinical research and trial landscape. To bridge the translational gap, extensive research behind understanding the mechanism and assessment of real benefit of drugs, a new integrated model of clinical research is needed. The occurrence of the pandemic also happened to not only prominently highlight their fundamental importance but also highlighted the need for large-scale clinical research & trials structured in a coordinated and collaborative manner.

Clinical trials and research 

A clinical trial is an experiment designed to foresee possible answers to specific questions about new treatments or new ways of using existing treatments. They are done to determine whether new drugs or treatments are safe and effective. It’s part of a long, careful process that may take many years to complete. Whereas, clinical research is the study of health and illness in people, a process of learning how to prevent, diagnose and treat illness. It involves human participation that helps in translating basic research into new treatments and information. Simply put, both strategies are performed to gather robust and relevant data about the effectiveness of healthcare interventions that can potentially provide optimal patient care within the limits of a healthcare budget.