A study published in an international peer-reviewed journal this month has found an extraordinary rise in health research output from Bihar, the third most populous state of India, post-2010. “For the ten-year period from 2010 to 2019, a total of 706 research articles was published during this decade, which is more than 70% of total health research output on Bihar. In terms of growth, this was more than five times higher in output as compared to the previous decade. Clinical subjects (25 %) followed by leishmaniasis (23%) were the most common theme.”
The study by Keshri VR and Tigga NS and published in Global Health Reports said medical institutions (45%) were the biggest contributors to health research and over 60% of papers were authored by a lead author from outside Bihar with a majority not having a local co-author.
Also read: Centre revises most Ayushman packages
The majority of lead authors of research papers based on Bihar were affiliated to an institution or organisation outside Bihar (61.5%). But a majority of the research papers in basic or clinical research domain were led by authors located in Bihar (54.7%).
Researchers based in other Indian states and outside India contributed to 41.2% and 16.6% of the research papers on Bihar. Among international authors, the highest proportion was based in the US (8.4%), followed by European countries, including the UK (5.6%). The location of the lead authors of around 3.8% of total papers was either not mentioned or was not available.
Leishmaniasis, an endemic disease whose 80% of the total cases in India are reported from Bihar, was the most common subject funded by both national (53.1%) and international (31.5%) funding sources.
{{/usCountry}}Leishmaniasis, an endemic disease whose 80% of the total cases in India are reported from Bihar, was the most common subject funded by both national (53.1%) and international (31.5%) funding sources.
{{/usCountry}}The study, however, found the number of papers per million of the population was 0.1 and 2.9 for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh compared to 9.3 for Karnataka. It cites inadequate teaching and research facilities as significant bottlenecks of Bihar’s health sector.
The study has called for a policy intervention to address Bihar’s “very limited health research output”, which is also not aligned with the priorities of health systems and disease burden.
“Overall, the health research output from a group of eight large states with 46% of the population of India accounted for less than 10% of total health research output of the country. Health in India is a subject matter under the jurisdiction of state governments and a significant disparity in health systems and health research output indicate skewed priorities.”