DTMT Network
BENGALURU: Bioethics Unit at ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru, has been designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for strengthening ethics in biomedical and health research, says an official statement of ICMR.

The centre is the first in the eleven countries in the Southeast Asia Region of WHO to be recognized for the work in the area of health research ethics.

Ethics has come to occupy the center stage in all health research activities in recent years, whether it is related to basic sciences, infectious diseases, outbreaks, maternal and child health or non-communicable diseases, injuries and other areas, it said.

The centre will lead the work in identifying and setting priorities for the Region in considering ethical values, providing guidance and leadership towards promoting excellence in ethical aspects of biomedical research. It will play a pivotal role for developing tools and processes to set up research, innovation and education in ethics.

Dr. Roli Mathur, Head, ICMR Bioethics Unit, said, “The collaboration will be a key to ensure that better research outcomes are achieved along with safeguarding individual preference. This centre will work to protect the rights, welfare, safety and dignity of research participants in biomedical and health research.”

She stated, “In recent years, the ICMR Bioethics Unit at NCDIR-Bengaluru has played a leading role in developing several ethical guidelines and policies such as the National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical & Health research.”

It has also been involved in the preparation of tools to improve ethics committee functions such as common forms and taken numerous initiatives for building the capacity of researchers across the country, by reaching out to over 7000 stakeholders in the last two years, Dr Mathur added.