NIH Training Program for Health Research Ethics and Good Clinical Practice

With the increasing number of health researches and clinical trials
being conducted in the Philippines and Asia, there is a need to address issues related to health research ethics and good clinical practice. The stakeholders — investigators, sponsors, and members of ethics review committees/institutional review boards — need to develop the capacity to cope with the demand for trained human resources and continuing systems improvement. With support from multi-sectoral partnerships and international networking, capacity strengthening in health research ethics must be anchored on a clear national governance framework leading towards a good ethical review system. The UPM-NIH Training Center for Health Research Ethics and Good Clinical Practice, in collaboration with the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP), offers a series of training-workshops on health research ethics in order to contribute to regional, national, and institutional capacity building. The training-workshops serve as a platform that bring together stakeholders to discuss practical solutions for emerging challenges in health research through lectures and case studies. Through transdisciplinary expertise, the training-workshops help promote an environment of cooperation to sustain improvements in the quality of health research. Capacity strengthening in health research ethics in the Philippines is part of the mandate of the National Institutes of Health as one of the four implementing agencies of the Philippine National Health Research System established by law in 2013.