Established by an Act of Parliament on 12 April 1991, Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) is an apex body of Government of Nepal responsible for coordinating and promoting high quality health research in the country. It has four broader mandates by its Act: Research Regulation, Evidence Generation, Capacity Building and Promoting use of evidence in policy and planning. The Ethical Review Board (ERB) of NHRC has received international accreditation from The Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region (FERCAP) in November 2019. Till now, 50 Institutional Review Committees (IRCs) have been established in different academic and research institutions across the country. Clinical Trial Registry at NHRC is started by the end of 2019. One of our major responsibilities would be to enhance the capacity of ERB, IRCs and Clinical Trial Registry to sustain international recognition and standards, as envisioned by National Health Policy 2019. In addition, our priority would be to ensure monitoring of research projects approved by ERB of NHRC and IRCs. NHRC encourage and facilitate for establishing research departments and IRCs in academic institutions in Nepal. Around 3000 research proposals approved by ERB and IRCs in Nepal and only 10 research projects on priority areas were conducted by NHRC itself in 2019 in collaboration with Government of Nepal as well as external development partners. In future, NHRC’s focus will be more on collaborative research with academic institutions, government institutions and development partners which can contribute to evidence informed policy and planning. Furthermore, as per the provisions of National Health Policy 2019 and National Health Research Strategy 2020, we will expand NHRC in the federal context in establishing/recognizing centers of excellence, gradually in all provinces. Finally, we welcome collaboration and partnership for fostering research culture in Nepal.
Dr. Pradip Gyanwali
Executive Chief (Member Secretary)
