Research generally aims at reducing the impact of shocks and disturbances. It is a systematic and efficient quest for appropriate statistics on a precise subject. COVID-19 demands a careful investigation of the nature and causes of the coronavirus along with a systematized effort to gain a vaccine for a cure. Health research and COVID-19 are complementary to each other. For achieving success in COVID-19 research there should not only be the presence of good academic and sponsored health research but essentially a good interface between two. For the growth and development of the health sector, there should be a good interface between academic health research and sponsored health research. That is to say, that good interface between two is essential for achieving excellence in science education in general and medical sciences in particular. For a better quality of life in an economy and reducing pandemic shocks there must be a good interface between the health sector and other sectors of an economy.
Good academic health research and sponsored health research linkages tend to develop good intra and inter health collaborations which necessarily develop excellence in the medical field and research. Indian medical universities in general and medical universities in Jammu and Kashmir in particular lack qualitative intra and inter-university partnerships, and therefore they fail to achieve excellence in their education and profession.
Noble academic and sponsored medical research is hardly becoming mainstream in our medical universities. Accordingly, the authorities necessarily need to make research a mainstream in medical higher education prospectus. In COVID-19 times health networking and consortiums are the need of the hour and they will generate better knowledge of pandemic in specific form and coronavirus in generic form. Medical universities and government can collaborate and develop consortiums in order to develop knowledge hubs for creating and multiplying medical knowledge and create scientific temper among the budding doctors. Consistent good academic and sponsored research will for sure generate ‘Globalization of medical knowledge’ thereby generating health innovations that are drivers to growth and development of medical sciences.
There is a need for National Mission on COVID-19 research so as to achieve excellence not only in the quality of life of the masses but in education and health sectors equally. In addition, it will reduce corona cases and develop awareness of coronavirus. It is very wisely said that interactions improve our efficiency levels. But it is very unfortunate that our medical sciences and education system lack qualitative enlightening interactions. We must realize the importance of dialogue making in every sphere of life.
Western countries generally and nine countries especially, including Iceland, Tanzania, New Zealand, Fiji, Vatican City, Montenegro, Seychelles, Papua New Guinea, and Mauritius became successful in controlling COVID-19 mainly on the ground of its good research coupled with sound database and data sharing habits. Unluckily eastern countries lack sound data sharing and data generating mechanism, as a result, they don’t carve out productive works and drastically fail in fighting COVID-19. Therefore, for better and productive knowledge together with fighting a catastrophe or pandemic it is very essential to develop a very robust database and inculcate data sharing culture.
Binish Qadri is ICSSR Doctoral Fellow pursuing Ph.D. in Economics at Department of Economics, Central University of Kashmir; Quarterly Franklin Member, London Journals Press.