Rohit Kataria

As a part of the CSIR AMRIT (Accelerating Modern Research, Innovations & Technologies) Lecture Series, CSIR organised a lecture by Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and former Chief Scientist, World Health Organisation (WHO), on 15 February 2024 at CSIR Headquarters, New Delhi. Dr Soumya delivered an instructive and captivating lecture on “Future Directions for Health Research in India” that delved into the various significant issues related to health and society, providing insights into the necessary precautionary measures to lead a ‘healthy life.

Initiating her topic by recalling the significance of SDG-3 — “Ensures healthy lives and promotes well-being for all ages”, Dr Soumya said that SDG-3 is a docking point for all other SDGs, and if any of the other SDGs is not attained, it will impact health and well-being.

The demographic dividend is the “economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population is larger than the non-working-age share of the population,” according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). She highlighted that India has a demographic dividend that few large nations possess. Informing that India has about 350 million people in the age group of 10 to 24 years, which can be a huge workforce, she suggested that…read more on NOPR