MANIPAL, NOV 5: The centre will soon announce a policy to help the pharmaceutical industries in carrying out research and development to make costly life-saving drugs available at reasonable prices, Union chemicals and fertiliser minister Suresh Prabhu said today.Inaugurating the centre for laser spectroscopy funded by the Department of Science and Technology and Department of Atomic Energy at the Manipal academy of higher education here, he said 80 per cent of the population was unable to purchase life saving drugs. Hence, there was a need to make these drugs available at reasonable prices.Academy vice chancellor Prof B M Hegde said over 1500 life saving medicinal plants were available in the western ghats which needed to be revitalised.The centre would concentrate on study of early detection of cancer. Optical imaging for bio-medical applications and clinical investigations of tissues, body fluids and other pathology samples. The academy was carrying out advanced research in laser bio-medical applications and proposes to set up a centre of excellence in laser bio-medical research.
