To ensure adherence to the universal principles for the protection of human participants in research, the Regional Health Research and Development Consortium XI (RHRDC XI) facilitated two simultaneous trainings in Research Ethics namely, Basic Research Ethics Training and Standard Operating Procedures Workshop. These are essential trainings for those institutions applying for accreditation to the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB).
For Research Ethics Committees (REC) to do good and competent review, the REC members, including medical practitioners, faculty, advisers, and researchers in Davao region dedicated their two-day presence to the Basic Research Ethics Training. This is in compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, WHO International Guidelines, the 2017 National Ethical Guidelines for Health and Health-related Research and other related national and international guidelines to protect the dignity, welfare and rights of human participants in research. The training was conducted by Dr. Sonia E. Bongala of Makati Medical Center and Dr. Carl Abelardo of the University of the Philippines Manila. Not only the trainers did all the speaking, but the attendees actively participated through questions for clarity on the implementation of ethics review in their institution, expressing their experiences from their own RECs and even gave their best performance during the role-playing session.
In order to fulfill the standards and accreditation requirements set by PHREB, trainings such as the Basic Research Ethics and other continuing or advance ethics review training must be complied by all Research Ethics Committees. Thus, the Regional Health Research and Development Consortium XI conducts annual trainings on ethics review to support its member-institutions and capacitate them in establishing a standard research ethics committee.
