Nano Applications, Mega Challenges: The Case of the Health Sector in India

Healthcare is one of the key sectors in which nanotechnology is likely to make a major impact in the future. The introduction of nanotechnology to existing medical practices is expected to be extensive, performance enhancing, and economical. The paper sets out to locate nanotechnology advancements in healthcare within the larger context of the public health infrastructure and service delivery needs in India. Prospects for the success of nanotechnology in Indian healthcare would depend on how two interrelated processes pan out in the future. These processes being, a) the extent to which nanotechnology development would be affected by the infrastructural and resource constraints in the Indian health sector, and b) the extent to which it can in turn potentially broaden India's vertical medical structures by dint of being a platform technology. The paper contextualizes developments in the field not only with regard to the existing social, economic and technical forces at work in India, but also in view of the challenges that developing countries face in common. Socially embedding nanotechnology would entail, among other things, effective technology transfer in sectors that address a country's developmental needs. In developmental sectors such as health, sanitation and water, enhancing local skills and encouraging a sense of ownership in society should be at the core of nanotechnology governance. The paper further goes on to examine the challenges that policy makers and regulators need to address in order to effectively govern the technology. This broad rubric of common challenges and shared vulnerability to nanotechnology risks provides the backdrop against which issues of resource prioritization and constraints impinging nanotechnology development in India can be better understood.