Union Health Minister Lays Foundation for ICMR High-Altitude Medicine Centre in Keylong

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the ICMR Centre for High Altitude Medicine and Public Health Research in Keylong, Himachal Pradesh, on Monday. The facility, also referred to as ICMR-CHAMP, will focus on biomedical research and healthcare preparedness for populations living at high altitude in the Himalayan region.

Keylong sits in the Lahaul and Spiti district, an area where residents and security personnel face chronic exposure to low oxygen, extreme cold and limited medical infrastructure. The centre is intended to generate data on altitude-related conditions and to support better clinical protocols for the region. Construction will begin after the foundation ceremony.

The project forms part of broader efforts to strengthen specialised medical research outside major metropolitan centres. High-altitude medicine has practical relevance for the armed forces, border communities and tourists who travel into the upper Himalayas. The ICMR will oversee the scientific programme once the facility is operational.

Local authorities have prepared the site for the ceremony. The event is one of several government programmes scheduled for 12 October, including the BRICS Theatre Festival in New Delhi and the NHRC Foundation Day. The high-altitude centre is the only new research infrastructure of its type being launched on this date.

Once completed, the centre is expected to house laboratories and clinical research capacity tailored to the environment of Lahaul and Spiti. Specific timelines for construction and staffing have not been detailed beyond the foundation stone. The announcement places the facility on the map as a dedicated node for high-altitude health research within the Indian Council of Medical Research system.