With the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) has developed the Integrated Research Ethics Review Portal (IRERP), an online system, and has successfully conducted orientation programs for all Institutional Review Committees (IRCs) in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Chitwan, Pokhara, and Bhairahawa.
IRERP is an integrated platform that enables registration of IRCs and functions as both a clinical trial registry and a national research registry. Through this system, researchers can select the appropriate IRC for proposal submission based on their institutional affiliation, funding status, and the level of study risk, in accordance with the criteria outlined in the National Ethical Guidelines (2022).
The system is now nearly ready for implementation. Below is a brief glimpse of the orientation programs conducted across these locations.
