The Committee on Human Resource and Development of the Central Visayas Consortium for Health Research and Development chaired by Dr. Melfer R. Montoya conducted a “Forum on Challenges and Opportunities in Research” on January 31, 2013 at the Cebu Institute of Medicine Amphitheater 1. This activity was conducted to increase awareness and knowledge on health research.
All member institutions together with the University of Cebu and the University of San Jose Recoletos who applied for membership in the consortium were invited and encouraged to send 15 participants per institution.
Three competent speakers were invited to share their expertise in the field of health research. Dr. Asuncion M. Anden, the Director of the Department of Health Region VII, Dr. Alan B. Feranil, the Director of the University of San Carlos, Office of Population Studies Foundation and Dr. Frances E. Edillo, a faculty member of the Biology Department of the University of San Carlos. Due to other important commitments, Dr. Anden was represented by Dr. Crisol Tabarejo, Epidemiologist of the Department of Health Region VII.
Dr. Tabarejo talked about the topic “Revisiting the National Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA)”. She said that the NUHRA 2011-2016 is a product of consultation and consolidation of the research priorities of the four core agencies of the PNHRS (DOH, PCHRD-DOST, CHED, NIH-UPM). She stressed the importance of the NUHRA that was designed for the following purposes: 1)To provide focus and direction on health research and development efforts that will address the country’s health concerns for 2011-2016, 2) To serve as a guide where policy makers, funding and donor agencies and researchers from public and private sectors should invest to ensure the health and productivity of the country’s productivity, 3) To assist in providing evidence based solutions to pressing local health problems, 4) To serve as basis to maximize resource utilization and minimize duplication of research efforts, 5) that NUHRA serves as the template for health research and development efforts in addressing the country’s health concerns for 2011-2016.
Dr. Tabarejo also emphasized that the formulation of the NUHRA 2011-2016 is anchored on the following national and international commitments: 1)The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), 2) The Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, 3) The “Aquino Health Agenda: Universal Health Care for all Filipinos”, 4) The Presidential Coordinating Council on Research and Development’s (PCCRD) National R&D Priorities Plan 2011-2016, 5) The DOST Five-Point Priority Program for 2011-2016. She ended her talk by encouraging the audience to come up with quality researches aligned with the NUHRA or RUHRA.
Dr. Alan B. Feranil discussed the topic “Looking for and Obtaining Funding for Health Research in the Philippines.” He shared to the group the different funding agencies coming from different sectors of the society. Among the government agencies that fund health research are the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), Department of Health, DENR-Environment Management Bureau for environmental issues, and DOLE-Occupational Health and Safety Center for occupational health concerns. Local foundations such as Gruppo Medica and Pfizer Foundation also fund health researches. Foreign sources include Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), UNFPA (United Nations Fund for Population Activities), UNICEF, UNAIDS, USAID, and many others. Dr. Feranil emphasized that research funding is not a problem but focus should be on producing quality researches.
Dr. Frances E. Edillo focused her talk on the “Research Operational Mechanism in Academic Institutions.” The lecture encouraged all universities to become research universities. She also brought in the new typology of Philippine Educational Reform (cited by Salas, 2011) that for a University to remain a university, it should meet the following criteria: doctoral programs in at least 5 disciplines, 70% of BS programs with a thesis or project paper, International linkages, 10% of enrollment should be graduate programs, 30% of faculty be actively involved in research and 10% of faculty should have publications in refereed journals.
A lot of participants showed their interest to know more on the different topics presented by the speakers that it led to a very lively discussion during the open forum. Dr. Amelia Biglete, the Regional Director of the Commission on Higher Education Region VII confirmed that the Commission on Higher Education is very much willing to fund quality researches.
