Zero Funds for Next Pandemic?

India has sharply increased its spending on health research over the past four years, but a little-noticed decision in the latest budget has eliminated funding for one scheme dedicated solely to developing tools to prevent disease outbreaks and epidemics.

A written reply tabled in the Rajya Sabha by the minister of state for health and family welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, on July 21 shows that the Department of Health Research (DHR) has received a budget estimate of ₹4,821.21 crore for 2026-27, up from ₹2,892.83 crore in 2023-24—an increase of nearly 67%.

Yet within that expanding budget, the allocation for the scheme titled "Development of Tools/Support to Prevent Outbreaks and Epidemics" has fallen steadily over the past three years before disappearing altogether.

According to the Ministry's reply to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 285, the scheme received ₹10 crore in 2023-24, ₹8 crore in 2024-25, and ₹3.67 crore in 2025-26. For 2026-27, both the budget estimate and expenditure columns carry a dash, indicating that no allocation has been made.

The scheme was designed to support research into new diagnostic tests, technologies and other public health tools for the prevention, early detection, surveillance and control of disease outbreaks. Its stated objective was to strengthen India's preparedness against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

The move comes only a few years after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how quickly new infections can overwhelm health systems and disrupt economies. More recently, countries have continued to monitor threats such as Mpox, outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza, and other emerging infectious diseases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly stressed that investment in surveillance, rapid diagnostics and research remains essential for detecting outbreaks early and limiting their spread.

The disappearance of this dedicated research fund, however, does not mean that India has stopped investing in epidemic preparedness altogether.

The parliamentary reply shows continued funding for several larger programmes with similar objectives. The government has allocated ₹351.06 crore in 2026-27 for areas like biosecurity preparedness, pandemic research, and the National One Health Mission under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHI M), to Department of Health Research has been given which encourages teamwork in monitoring health across humans, animals, and the environment.

Of this, ₹351.06 crore in 2026-27 will be spent on elements such as biosecurity preparedness, pandemic research and the National One Health Mission which calls for coordinated surveillance across the human, animal and environmental health sectors.
Similarly, the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDL) Scheme, which supports laboratory networks across the country for disease surveillance and outbreak investigations, has been allocated ₹70 crore in the current financial year. Funding has also increased for Multi-Disciplinary Research Units (MRUs) in medical colleges, with the allocation rising to ₹100.27 crore.

Even so, public health experts have long argued that dedicated funding streams often play a distinct role by supporting the development of new technologies specifically aimed at preventing future outbreaks rather than strengthening existing infrastructure alone.

The figures released by the Ministry do not explain why the standalone outbreak-prevention research scheme has been discontinued or whether its activities have been fully absorbed into other programmes.

As India continues to expand its overall investment in health research, the budget documents suggest that priorities within that spending are evolving. Whether broader programmes can fully replace a dedicated research fund for outbreak-prevention tools is likely to remain an important question as countries worldwide continue to prepare for the next emerging infectious disease.

The writer is a Delhi-based freelancer who writes on health issues and medical discoveries.