Regional Consultation on Health Research Governance and Management in South-East Asia
7–10 November 2023, Delhi, India
Overview
The Regional Consultation on Health Research Governance and Management in South-East Asia was held in Delhi, India, on November 7–10 to provide strategic directions for governance and management of research for health in the WHO South-East Asia Region. The specific objectives of the consultation were to:
➢ review the organization structures, status and practices in governance and management of health research in Members States of WHO South-East Asia Region and recommend key actions to strengthen the national health research ecosystems in the Region;
➢ build consensus on key strategic areas that may be included as part of Regional Health Research Strategy (2023–2030); and
➢ consult on approaches to establish regional clinical research (including clinical trials) networks to improve coordination of multicountry research especially during outbreaks, pandemics and other health emergencies.
The meeting considered various topics pertaining to the governance and management of health research, including what constitutes essential research governance and management functions. In the first session, the participants discussed in three different groups, the importance of health research governance and management in improving accountability, effectiveness, transparency and quality in health research and considered the status of governance and management in their own countries and the Region.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist, WHO, gave the keynote address outlining the role of WHO in improving the research ecosystems. A presentation from the National Institutes of Health of the United States of America (USA) demonstrated the NIH World RePORT System as a tool to monitor research investments and Indonesia presented utility of clinical trial registry as one of the research governance and management tools. Recommendations were developed on what constitutes essential research and governance functions.
The consultation then deep dived into three major functions. This was done through Group works and sharing specific experiences both from the region and from outside. All the Member States were divided into the 3 groups – Group 1 of large countries (India, Bangladesh and Indonesia), Group 2 of mid-sized countries (Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand) and Group 3 of smaller countries (Bhutan, Maldives and Timor-Leste):
