Research ethics is main basis of instilling confidence in health sector: Health Minister

KATHMANDU: Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel has stressed on the need of fulfilling the highest ethical standard in health research as it affects hundreds of thousands of people.

Addressing the opening session of the 24th International Conference of the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region (FERCAP) here today, he said ethical considerations in research is the main basis for building public confidence in the health services.

Around 600 Nepali and foreigners including experts on various departments related to the research code of conduct, researchers, policymakers, representatives of academic institutions and people from the medical sector are attending the Conference.

Deliberation will be held and papers presented on various facets of research ethics during the conference organized for the first time in Nepal. The conference is organized in collaboration with Nepal Health Research Council.

Experts from 23 nations including the USA, Japan, the UK, Philippines, Poland, Malaysia, Norway, Greece, Kenya, Brazil and India are participating in the conference.

Ninety papers and 13 posters related to research ethics have been selected for presentation during the event. Of these, 61 will be presented by international and 29 by national experts, according to the organizers.

Council Member-Secretary Dr Pramod Joshi said the conference will support the Council's main objective of regulating the health research as well as of developing and expanding ethical and sound research in the health sector. The conference will run till November 27.

On the first day of the conference today, the participants were imparted training on the role of the researcher and experts on code review committee after the approval of the research.

Dr Joshi said deliberations would be held in the conference on various topics related to research code of ethics, on the role of Council and on principles of code of conduct required in the face of growing challenges with the development of innovation in research.

The Council has expressed the conviction that the conference will play a key role in the identification and properly addressing the existing challenges in the context of the pressing need at present to carry out studies, research and experiments in the medical and health sector in view of the continued progress in health research and technology.