LAOAG CITY, May 25 (PIA) – Health researchers and stakeholders converged for a two-day consultation workshop for the formulation of National Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA) for 2017 – 2022 on May 23 to 24 here.
The Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) through its Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) initiated the activity as part of its mandate to enhance country’s health status through research.
Dr. Miguel Antonio S. Salazar, cluster head for the formulation of the NUHRA, said the consultation workshop is simultaneously held in the country’s 17 regions for the creation of the Regional Unified Health Research Agenda (RUHRA).
“All research topics gathered from the RUHRA are considered in the formulation of the NUHRA,” he said.
“We applied the mixed strategies in gathering these relevant, feasible, and high-impact research topics in which these were participative, collaborative, inclusive, vertical approach or top to bottom approach and bottom top approach,” he added.
According to Salazar, all gathered topics for the research agenda should be anchored to the country’s five key research areas such as ASEAN integration, the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), the Philippine Development Plant (PDP)/Ambisyon 2040, the Department of Health (DOH) – Phil. Health Agenda, the Dept. of Science and Technology (DOST) Research and Development Agenda, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) priorities.
He noted that the Department of Science and Technology alone has allocated P5.8 billion for research and development this year.
“All research topics listed in the NUHRA are the basis for prioritization for funding by the national government agencies and foreign organizations,” Salazar said.
For his part, Dr. Armando Ganal, regional director of DOST Region 1, said that all relevant research topics and proposals in the region are submitted in the form of resolutions for approval and endorsement of the Regional Development Council. (Freddie G. Lazaro/PIA-1)
