Ethical practices from councils

Ethical practices from Health Research Council (HRC)

Ashok Pandey (MPH/BPH, DGH)

Research Fellow (FK Norway), Child Sight Foundation Global, Banani, Dhaka, and Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Kathmandu, Nepal

About HRC

Health Research Council (HRC) providing the ethical approval for undertaking the researchers in the human subject. The primary roles of the health research council are to deliver advice to the respective government on health and medical research, manages research provision and funding through a variety of mechanisms. They provide the grants for organization and individual's specific research projects. HRC is responsible for a united voice of research findings taken from professional and membership associations; and representatives from the pharmaceutical, health insurance, University research, biotechnology, and communications industries.

HRCs are the nation's leading health and research finding advocacy organizations, which control its governance and policy-making process. The purpose, mission, and goals are similar with a vision of improved health and quality of life for all. The council is responsible for their ministry of health. The funding agreement is responsible for their ministry of health only.

As a part of our exchange program from Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Ministry of Health, Nepal and Child Sight Foundation Global, Banani, Dhaka we visited in Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) of Bangladesh. These are some similarities and dissimilarities between BMRC and NHRC.

Similarities

BMRC and NHRC are the autonomous body and sustained by their government.  Both agencies are responsible for managing the Government's investment in health research. They conducting the various training workshops on research methodology, biostatistics including data processing, scientific writing, and publication.   They usually supporting the development of research careers, so that young researchers can have a well-trained workforce in the future. They conducting the various training workshops on research methodology, biostatistics including data processing, scientific writing, and publication. They usually supporting the development of research careers, so that young researchers can have a well-trained workforce in the future. They also contribute to maintaining ethical consideration and safe health research environment by reviewing monitoring and appropriate guidance of the research project. They consulting the different agencies to establish priorities in health research. They disseminating and promoting the results of health research to inspire their contribution to health science, policy, standard setting, and delivery.

These range from addressing gradual health problems at the community and country level through operational research, to evaluations and programmatic interventions that are aimed at generating evidence, to more systematic research activities that inform global scientific and policy debates.

For ensuring the development and application of appropriate assessment standards for Institutional review committees or subcommittees that assess health research proposals. The executive committee, Institutional review committee, and editorial board are the same in these organization, where the chairman is the executive of the council. The governing body consists of Chairman, vice chairman, members, and member secretary. The BMRC and NHRC journal bulletin publish articles related to researches done in the field of biomedical sciences related to all the discipline of the public health, medical sciences, healthcare management, and medical education, including ethical and social issues pertaining to health. Inadequate human resource for research support- both technical and administrative, inadequate resources, brain drain, low productivity, lack of accountability, the absence of any monitoring mechanism and follow-up action, and lack of capacity in terms of execution of their own mandate are some of the limitation of both councils.

Dissimilarities

BMRC was established 19 years before NHRC in 1972 A.D. BMRC mainly focuses the training workshop for postgraduate medical students and postgraduate doctors in free of cost till date. Now, NHRC focused the training on all the health-related students and health professionals in minimal fees from participants. NHRC requests all the author for ethical approval to submit their research proposal via online submission from its website. BMRC is not developing the online submission till now. They used the hard copy methods only. The published report and article of NHRC is providing in the free of cost till now whenever needed. The official letter and registration are needed to take the BMRC published journal, report and other publication.

Way forwards

People believe that the health research council should have a sound record of suitable and innovative initiatives to address health research findings quickly and effectively. People felt doubt on the research findings on sector research with the relationship between types of research, the nature of evidence generated, and their suitability for informing policy. Emphasis should be given to the importance of research ethics, ethical values and ethical process among public health professionals, researchers and, policymakers. It should be the responsibility of all professionals and professional organizations to uphold the principle of research ethics and professional conduct. Policymakers, Health planners, and implementers should give priority to ethical issues in public health, medical and allied education as well as medical practice.

They should provide technical support to public health institutes so that they can develop and implement an integrated curriculum for the teaching of health research ethics at any levels. Different countries should develop a course of health research ethics and exchange programs for changing the perceptions of the society and community on ethical issues. For strengthening the collaboration, South Asian Forum for Health Research (SAFHER) need to make more functional and adaptable. For enhancing the regional collaboration and partnership regional health research councils should have participated for discussion in the one forum and to address common health problems in the region as global health ethics. Likewise, good practices done by NHRC should be adopted by BMRC and vice versa.