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RUHRA 2017-2022 – Guide in Setting Region’s Health Research Agenda

An updated Regional Unified Health Research Agenda (RUHRA) for 2017-2022 is now available to download. The RUHRA is essential as it reflects the relevant health problems in our Region and serve as a guide for researchers and funders in order to optimize the impact of investments in health research. Crafting the Region 11 RUHRA was made possible through the two-day consultation with key stakeholders composed of 20 government agencies, 5 academic institutions, 2 hospitals and 1 foundation. A total of 14 priority areas were determined, namely: maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition; infectious diseases; reproductive health; nutrition, functional food and food safety; health economics and governance; non-communicable diseases; climate change and disaster risk reproduction management; traditional/herbal medicines and natural products; environmental health; behavioral and mental health; health and nutrition in GIDSs; occupational health; information and communications technology in health; and innovation in health technology.

At present, printing of RUHRA 2017-2022 is on-going and is scheduled to be distributed within the year. In the meantime, as part of the initial mechanisms of the Regional Health Research and Development Consortium XI (RHRDC XI) in promoting the adoption of RUHRA, Dr. Warlito C. Vicente attended two separate consultation workshops in Davao City namely, “2018-2020 DRMC Unified Health Research Agenda Workshop” of Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC), Tagum City and “Consultation and Crafting of the Regional Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap of Davao Region” at Seda Hotel of Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) Davao Network. The former workshop aims to workshop aims to formulate health research agenda for the hospital and encourage its hospital residents and employees to conduct research aligned to the DRMC’s priorities while the latter is a consultation which assist in the implementation of the project entitled “Fostering Partnerships in Accelerating Science, Engineering, Tecsdhnology and Innovation (SETI) Frameworks towards the Attainment of SDG in Southern Philippine” which was funded by Malaysian Funds in Trust to Facilitate in Accelerating Science and Technology (AP-FAST).

The RUHRA 2017-2022 can be downloaded at https://bit.ly/2MOsCd9

#hcsmph2018 in Davao

Social media is one of the most essential tools this world has developed. The convenience it gives to an individual significantly reduces the time and effort in searching and sharing one’s idea. In fact, the use of social media in different platforms widely helped healthcare professionals, researchers and medical and allied medical students in gathering reliable information in their field.

Thus, #HealthXPh in partnership with the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) organized the 4^th Philippine Healthcare and Social Media Summit 2018 with the theme “Social Media and Health Professions Education: Shaping the Future through Research and Innovation” at the Grand Regal Hotel, Davao City last June 9, 2018.

Ms. Merlita Opeña, Chief of the Research Information Communication and Utilization Division of PCHRD, welcomed the participants highlighting the #HealthXPh for advocating the use of social media to influence friends and encourage more people to go into health research. Ms. Opeña further stated that “It is high time for all of us in health research community and health sector in general to incorporate social media in our research and communication strategy in creating content, sharing ideas, which will connect us to one another.”

This is the first healthcare and social media summit held in Mindanao. The summit gathered the most followed personalities in the Philippines’ social media as advocates in the health sector to collaborate and grow their networking opportunities. Davao City, as the chosen location for this summit, is grateful to host a nationwide event that tackles one of the up-to-date issues in the country. The role of social media in shaping the future through research and innovation is becoming an integral part of every Filipino.

By: Ms. Mabel Diana M. Calipes