Developing an Interactive Online Course on Health Research Ethic in Nepal

PROJECT STATUS
[Completed] The project developed online curriculum and it is being integrated into the NHRC webpage.

PROJECT DURATION
2017

ESTIMATED BUDGET
NPR 252, 000

COLLABORATION
Health for Life Project

DISTRICT (S)
NA

BACKGROUND

Ethical approval of health research is one of the core functions of NHRC. Ethical approval through Ethical Review Board (ERB) or Institutional Review Committees (IRCs) is mandatory for all health related studies to be conducted in Nepal. Health research ethical guidelines for researchers have been developed to facilitate ethical conduct of studies in the country. The guideline requires research proposals to be ethically sound for the further undertaking. However, researchers often face the ethical dilemma during research proposal development and its implementation. Foreign investigators are often challenged with the requisites of the local ethics committee. Similarly, researchers are unable to adequately justify the risks and benefits of their studies to the researcher participants and the research community. So, there is a need for an online course to acquaint researchers about ethical requirements set by NHRC to facilitate the responsible conduct of research in Nepal.

OBJECTIVE (S)

To develop an online curriculum on research ethics, based on the ethical guidelines of NHRC, targeting the prospective researchers willing to lodge ethic approval application at the NHRC and NHRC certified IRCs.

EXPECTED OUTPUT (S)

The project will deliver an online curriculum integrated into the NHRC webpage. The curriculum will provide learning opportunities for researchers by acquainting them with fundamentals of research ethics. The online course will also facilitate NHRC to aware researchers about the ethical responsibilities and requirements while planning for health research in Nepal.