Focus more on drug discovery

CHENNAI: Ram A Vishwakarma, director of the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, urged students to discover more drugs to solve various health issues. Addressing students at the 14th convocation at Sri Ramachandra University, he said, “Five or six centuries ago, India was a world leader in medical therapies, concepts, equipment and surgeries. Today, however, we have lost our capacity to do so, as shown by the fact that not a single drug discovered and developed in India is in the global market.In the US, where more than 80 per cent of the recent drugs have been discovered, there was an integration of research and medical science in medical schools, he noted, calling for such a synergy between medical and basic biological sciences in the educational system in India. Seven hundred and two students received their diplomas and degrees at the convocation.