The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will set up a new centre in Keylong, Lahaul & Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, to conduct medical research in India’s high-altitude and climate-sensitive regions.
The work will begin following a ground-breaking (Bhumi Pujan) ceremony by the Health Minister, Jagat Prakash Nadda, on Saturday.
Once completed, the new ICMR facility, the Centre for High Altitude Medicine and Public Health Research, will upgrade the existing field station at Keylong.
The Himalayan ecosystem poses distinct public health challenges — high altitude, extreme climatic conditions, difficult terrain and rising climate variability — that shape disease patterns, healthcare access and emergency response.
According to Health Ministry officials, the Keylong centre is expected to generate scientific evidence and scalable solutions, relevant for mountainous regions, across a range of research areas, including mountain medicine, high-altitude physiology and acclimatisation, climate-sensitive and emerging diseases, infectious and non-communicable diseases, among others.
The government said that the facility, located in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, is expected to serve as an important resource centre, supporting national priorities in tribal health and disaster preparedness, while feeding into global research on high-altitude medicine.
This will be aided by the Centre’s year-round access to tribal and high-altitude populations residing in sensitive locations, enabling long-term cohort studies alongside field research to see how extreme weather, high altitude, and local surroundings affect human health.
The Health Ministry officials also stated that the facility will build institutional collaborations with the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Himachal Pradesh government, and academic and research institutions in India and abroad, creating an ecosystem for translational research and policy support.
Besides expanding the research capabilities of the existing station, the newly built centre will also integrate digital health platforms, telemedicine, drone-enabled healthcare logistics and real-time public health surveillance to improve delivery in hard-to-reach areas, the Health Ministry officials added.