NEPAL HEALTH RESEARCH COUNCIL

AND
NATIONAL HEALTH RESEARCH PRIORITIES
IN NEPAL

Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC)

Ramshah Path
Kathmandu
Nepal
Edition : First March, 1995
Second May, 2013

c NEPAL HEALTH RESEARCH COUNCIL

Published By
NEPAL HEALTH RESEARCH COUNCIL
P.O.Box: 7626, Ramshahpath, Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: +977-1-4254220
Fax:+ 977-1-4262469
E-mail: nhrc@nhrc.org.np
Website: h p.//www.nhrc.org.np
 PREFACE

NHRC would like to work in close collabora on with MoHP, academic

ins tu ons and various na onal research ins tu ons for the purpose of
achieving the noble objec ve of providing basic health care to the people
specially the deprived and underprivileged and ensuring universal health
coverage. Health system research especially pertaining to various dimensions
of health care delivery system such as essen al health care services, health
care financing as well as research related to various issues of communicable
and non communicable diseases are of prime importance to us in the present
scenario. Similarly sociological and anthropological research is important
in our context especially to ensure the access to and universal coverage of
basic health care services by the poor and underdeveloped.

This booklet describes the role of NHRC and the current priority areas
of health research in Nepal. Any individual, organiza on or ins tu on
commi ed towards suppor ng the overall development of health system
of Nepal would find this publica on useful in order to s ck to the na onal
priority to generate quality evidences in health and finally contribute in
evidence informed policy making.

The priori es set out in this booklet has come out as a product of Na onal
Consensus Workshop arranged by NHRC to define Health System Research
Priori es; first phase held on June 06, 2012 and second phase on September
16, 2012 in Kathmandu, coupled with a series of consulta ve mee ngs and
was technically and financially supported by World Health Organiza on
country office Nepal.

NHRC would like to express its warm apprecia on to all those who have
contributed for the success of the workshop and the publica on of this
booklet.

Prof. Dr. Chop Lal Bhusal

Execu ve-Chairman
(NHRC)

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 Table of Contents

PREFACE.....................................................................................................................i
Introduc on................................................................................................................1
Historical Background.................................................................................................1
Need for Research......................................................................................................2
Establishment of Nepal Health Research Council.......................................................3
Focus for strengthening the na onal capacity for carrying out health research and
to promote its use......................................................................................................3
Consensus and Na onal Commitment Building for Health Research.........................4
Ins tu onal Strengthening.........................................................................................4
Building Research Capacity.........................................................................................4
Crea ng Awareness and Demand for Health Research Ac vi es..............................5
Promo on of Health Research...................................................................................5
Priori es in Health Research......................................................................................7
Priority topics.............................................................................................................7
1.Health Care Delivery System...................................................................................8
2.Communicable/Infec ous Diseases........................................................................9
3.Non-Communicable Diseases.................................................................................9
4.Neonatal and Child Health.....................................................................................9
5.Reproduc ve Health..............................................................................................10
6.Mental Health and Substance Abuse.....................................................................10
7.Injuries, Accidents & Violence...............................................................................10
8.Nutri on and Food safety......................................................................................10
9.Environment and Occupa onal Health.................................................................10
10.Tradi onal Medicine.............................................................................................11
11.Urban Health........................................................................................................11
12.Geriatric Health....................................................................................................11
13.Miscellaneous...................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) was established in 1991 through
parliament act 1991, with the aim of promo ng quality and ethical standard
of health research in the country. The scope of council is to approve and
monitor health research, conduct and promote health research and
improve use of health research in Nepal. Among several func ons, du es
and rights of Nepal Health Research Council as per the act of NHRC two
of them directly relate to the na onal health research policy formula on
and specifying the priority areas for health research. The first one is to
formulate Na onal health research policy and give a definite direc on for
the promo on, implementa on, management, and u liza on of all aspects
of health research in Nepal. Second one is to specify the priority sectors of
study and research rela ng to health.

Historical Background
The scenario of health research is changing with me and the paradigm has
now shi ed to newer areas such as Non Communicable Diseases and Climate
change and health. In the changing scenario, NHRC has been involved in
upda ng the health research priori es in Nepal at different mes. First, it
had iden fied health research priori es in 1998 by conduc ng a conference
named “Priori za on of Essen al Na onal Health Research Agenda” in
Kathmandu. It had iden fied research priori es in four different broad
areas: Clinical Research, Health Policy and System Research, Behavioral
and Social Research and Technology and Product Research. Within the four
broad areas, it had also categorized different health problems and issues
under high, moderate and low priority. Following that, NHRC organized a
workshop “Development of Revised na onal Health Agenda” in 1999 at
Kathmandu. This workshop iden fied different health problems as research
priori es under 14 headings: Infec ous disease, Reproduc ve health, Child
and adolescent health, Nutri onal diseases, Non Communicable Diseases
(NCDs), Injuries and accidents, Substance abuse, Health economics, Mental
Health, Indigenous medicine, Disabili es, Health care delivery system,
Environmental health and Human resources for health. A er a span of 9
years, NHRC again conducted an utmost mee ng in 2008 involving different
stakeholders, named as “Update priori es in health research” in Kathmandu.
This mee ng also priori zed various areas in health research under different
headings. The broad headings given then were Communicable/Infec ous
Diseases, Non-communicable Diseases, Burden of Diseases, Neonatal and
child health, Maternal Health, Adolescent Health, Geriatric Health, Food
and Nutri on, Health Care Delivery System, Environment and Occupa onal
Health, Burn/Road Traffic Accidents/Injuries/Violence, Substance Abuse,
Mental Health, Tradi onal Medicine and Herbs, High Al tude Sickness/
Illness, Ethics, Cross-cu ng issues, Miscellaneous and Upcoming Issues.

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Now, a er four years of last update on priori za on of health research,
NHRC has reviewed the previous situa on considering current changing
scenario of disease pa ern and health problems as well as the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).

Need for Research

Nepal is confron ng a changing health scenario characterized in part
by a demographic transi on, changes in the health environment and the
“mul ple burden of disease” in which the old problems of communicable
disease s ll pose a significant challenge, while there is a rapid emergence
of lifestyle related non- communicable disease. Further, there are threats of
emerging and reemerging diseases. To meet the commitment of Government
of Nepal in developing efficient health care delivery system so as to ensure
equitable access to basic health care and to ensure universal coverage
within this changing environment, it is necessary to reorient the exis ng
health system to: (i) achieve an equitable re-alloca on of resources to
obtain fuller coverage; (ii) increase accessibility to effec ve, quality primary
health care services; (iii) provide effec ve referral system (iv) develop
appropriate mechanism; and (v) promote effec ve community par cipa on.
To determine the most appropriate approaches for realizing such change,
decision-makers and managers require appropriate, accurate and detailed
informa on. Unfortunately, such informa on is o en lacking, inadequate
or unreliable1. . Through NHSP IP II GoN expresses its commitment towards
access to essenƟal health care services especially by the poor and excluded
with a vision to improve the health and nutriƟonal status of Nepali populaƟon,
especially the poor and excluded. Too o en, the result is inappropriate
choices and decisions, with the undesirable consequences corrected through
a painful process of trial and error without and understanding of what led
to those consequences and the poten al for repea ng such mistakes. NHSP
IP II further stresses upon the need of policy research and special studies
to support rou ne monitoring and evalua on and inform the development
of policies and programs based on evidence. Hence, Nepal largely needs to
be informed by evidence for making new policies or revising the old ones.
As we almost make decisions ll date except in few circumstances on ad
hoc basis every areas of health care system requires to be informed by
quality evidences in order to make required decisions and thus reform. In
this scenario, we will not be able to focus on all the areas of health system
research at once and hence the need of research on priority basis.

As the World Health Assembly2 has noted, all health policies should be
based on valid scien fic evidence; such evidence requires health research.
1 The role of health research in the strategy for Health for by the year 2000:Background Document,
Technical Discussions May 1990, WHO.
2
 Preamble to the EHA Resolution (WHA43.19) 43rd World Health Assembly 1990.

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However, research is s ll some mes thought to be a luxury in our country but
that should not be the case. Health research through specifically designed
studies provides the requisite data, analysis and interpreta on necessary
for informed decision-making. The need for health research thus lies in its
contribu on to improving the decision-making process at all levels (central,
regional, district and below) and in op mizing the use of available resources,
maximizing efficiency, effec veness, quality and coverage of health services.

Establishment of Nepal Health Research Council

To strengthen the na onal capacity for carrying out health research and to
promote its use, the Nepal Health Research Council was established in 1991
with a view towards:
 Promo ng health research within health and related sectors,
crea ng awareness and demand for health research – incorpora ng
health research and the u liza on of research findings in the health
system’s management and health policy development processes;
 Marina ng ethical, scien fic and technical standards in health
research;
 Upda ng the research priori es and establishing a na onal health
research agenda;
 Coordina ng research within health and related sectors; focusing
research ac vi es on the na onal health research agenda and
avoiding duplica on;
 Assis ng researchers in their efforts to enhance their research skills.

Focus for strengthening the national capacity for

carrying out health research and to promote its use
In pursuit of its mandate to strengthen the na onal capacity for carrying out
health research and promo ng its use, the Council has focused its ac vi es
in the following five principal areas:
 Consensus and Na onal Commitment Building for Health Research
 Ins tu onal Strengthening
 Building Research Capacity
 Crea ng Awareness and Demand for Health Research Ac vi es
 Promo on of Health Research

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Consensus and National Commitment Building for Health
Research
To support and promote research, and to raise the awareness of the
importance and necessity for research as a tool in health program
management and health policy development, it is necessary to forge a
consensus among the relevant par es. Consensus building must occur
among the Ministry of Health, Planning Commission, Universi es,
Professional Associa ons and Social Organiza ons in order to create the
necessary suppor ve environment for health research at all levels of the
health care system. Similarly, a commitment from the na onal health
program planners and implementers must be generated. As part of the
consensus and commitment building process, it will be necessary to ‘’bridge
the gap” between:
 The researchers and the most users of health service research,
and The two categories of health researchers, that is, the research
scien sts from academic ins tu ons a group which places greater
emphasis on the philosophy and methodology of scien fic research
and the ‘’new breed of inves gators’’ – the program managers, and
more concerned with the u lity of research findings for making
ra onal opera onal decisions.3

Institutional Strengthening

In the past, whatever has been accomplished in health research in Nepal

is mainly a ributable to the interest and commitment of the individual
researchers. The contribu on of the individual researcher notwithstanding,
the con nued encouragement and sustainability of health research requires
a strong ins tu onal presence that can provide the necessary leadership,
inden fy needs, provide support and coordinate health research ac vi es
in the country. To strengthen the NHRC- the na onal focal point for health
research – emphasis will have to be placed on expanding the council’s
exis ng infrastructure (administra ve and library facili es, data processing
facili es), training and upgrading the professional staff ’s research skills and
providing direct support for Research. Similarly, every departments and
divisions within the MoHP will have to be strengthened to carry out research
at their level especially opera onal research and in coordina on with NHRC.

Building Research Capacity

The focus of research capacity building is the development of a cri cal mass
of researchers with the appropriate research skills. This requires a systema c
and sustained effort to train health services personnel, program managers
3Task Force on Health System Research: Report to the Regional Director, Yangon, 27-29 Actober
1993.

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and academic researchers as well as provide support while they gain
experience in using the skills acquired during training. Cu ng across these
categories are the ‘’young researchers, “ that is, persons who demonstrate
a basic level of research competence but who are not yet accomplished
researchers”. The Young Researchers in par cular requires support.

In training health services personnel the focus should be on providing the

knowledge and basic skills to carry out simple research projects at the
opera onal level. Training for health services managers would develop
management skills that use research findings in problem solving. For
young researchers, the focus should be on suppor ng research studies
as a prac cal learning mechanism to develop and improve their research
skills. The research ques ons addressed and the results obtained would
be secondary to the learning process engendered by the guided research
process. As part of that process, the young researchers would be guided by
a more senior researcher who will review the researcher’s work and provide
technical support and guidance during each phase of the research study.
With academic and established researchers the emphasis should be on
promo ng interdisciplinary research and developing skills in par cipatory
research ac vi es involving health personnel and health service managers.
Underpinning these capacity building ac vi es is the introduc on of health
research skills into curriculum of major ins tu ons that produce health
workforce such as IoM, BPKIHS, PAHS, NAMS and into the basic and post
basic training of health personnel. Facili es for data processing and sta s cal
consulta ons should be developed.

Creating Awareness and Demand for Health Research

Activities

Though it is a known fact that health research is highly valuable as a

management tool for effec ve decision - making at all levels of the health
system; it is rarely used in the policy or decision – making process. To
counter the nega ve and indifferent a tudes of decision – makers and
managers towards health research, efforts will be focused on increasing
their knowledge of the poten al uses of health research for informed
decision-making. These efforts will be supplemented by providing training to
the policy makers and people at the program level to enhance their capacity
to grasp and u lize research findings for decision-making, and then wider
dissemina on of research findings.

Promotion of Health Research

With limited resources available for research the effec ve promo on

of health research requires researchers to focus on areas that have been

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iden fied as priori es and for which solu ons can be found through health
research. The researchers must also be made aware of the need to interact
with managers and policy makers in the research process and of the frequent
need to adopt a mul – disciplinary approach. Finally, in promo ng research
at all levels of the health systems, the establishment of peripheral research
centers in coordina on with health directorates becomes a valuable tool.

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Priorities Area in Health Research
The priori es Area in health research set this me was through a rigorous
and con nuous process of discussion through workshops, consulta ve
mee ngs as well as expert mee ngs and past and present policy makers’
mee ngs. In the course of finaliza on there has been involvement of
all the departments, divisions, centers, and hospitals within the MoHP
including Directors and other representa ves as well as representa ves
from various other hospitals, I/NGOs and civil society. Besides the mee ngs
and workshops, there were other mechanisms followed such as feedback
through email in order to ensure that the important areas Nepal’s health
care systems are incorporated.

Ul mately, the following areas have come out and are listed in ranking
descending order or priority, the areas with highest priority being listed first
and so on. Within the broad topics as well the specific areas of research are
also listed in similar ranking order, the ones with highest priority are listed
first and so on.

Priority topics
1. Health Care Delivery System
2. Communicable Diseases
3. Non Communicable Diseases
4. Neonatal and Child Health
5. ReproducƟve Health
6. Mental Health and Substance Abuse
7. Injuries, Accidents and Violence
8. NutriƟon and Food Safety
9. Environmental and OccupaƟonal Health
10. TradiƟonal Medicine
11. Urban Health
12. Geriatric Health
13. Miscellaneous

Research related to following aspects in the priority areas

wherever applicable
 Magnitude of the problem, prevalence, incidence, risk factors: immune status,
race and gene cs
 Burden of Diseases (DALY, QALY)
 E ology: agents risk factors and environmental factors, understanding
pathogens (biomedical research)
 Course: morbidity, disability, mortality, survival
 Surveillance and early diagnosis
 Management of control program: diagnosis, outbreak and carrier management,
transmission methods, case management and treatment, vector, pathogenesis,
resistance to drugs

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 Socioeconomic and cultural factors
 Health promo on and educa on, behavior change and rehabilita on

1. Health Care Delivery System

 Free health care services: coverage, efficacy, equity and jus ce,
impact evalua on, evalua on of free drug policy
 Human resources for health: produc on, recruitment, deployment,
reten on, training, a ri on etc. and Opera onal research in HRM
 Drugs/vaccines/technology: Quality, access, procurement, ra onal
use, pharmaco vigilance, AE/SAE, Drug resistance, drug storage &
safety, prescrip on assessment, inventory management, Regula on
of drug produc on and supply including tradi onal medicine
 Health sector informaƟon system: HMIS, LMIS, FMIS, DMIS, RMIS,
Informa on gaps in health system
 Health Economics: NHA (DHA), Sub-na onal accoun ng e.g. MNCH,
HIV/AIDS, health care financing, health insurance, health care
financing, Out of pocket expenditures, demand based financing, cost
sharing, PP mix, public sector expenditure, Health coopera ves, Socio
economic impact of diseases and – Financing sustainability
 Quality and decentralizaƟon: Quality of services (assessment),
quality of care, quality control (Hospitals and laboratories), MDG need
assessment, client sa sfac on , quality assurance
 Other issues in Health care delivery system
 Infrastructure and logis cs
 Barriers to u liza on of peripheral Health Facili es,
Community empowerment for ac ve par cipa on in health
delivery issues at local level, Right to health issues, Health
Seeking Behavior, Socio cultural determinants
 Health systems research: policy, programs and their
evalua on
 Socio behavioral and qualita ve studies, evalua on
(program and training),
 Migrant popula on: Health problems
 Opera onal research – research within the program
 Hospital management: relevance, quality, equity,
effec veness, feasibility
 Intersectoral coordina on (health and non health sectors)
 Priva za on and monitoring private sectors/NGOs
 Coverage, Equity and Cost effec ve implementa on of basic
services
 Records keeping – including birth and death register,
hospital sta s cs
 Health policy and policy for health
 Issues of Polio and other Immuniza on Preventable
Diseases (IPDs)

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2. Communicable/Infectious Diseases
 Tropical diseases
 Kalazar, Malaria, Different dimensions of TB (BoD, Socio
economic burden, open border issue, MDR, XDR), TB/HIV
co infec on
 Disease pa ern, Pathogen understanding, Biomedical research
 Emerging infec ons: dengue, brucellosis, avian influenza
 Nosocomial Infec on/Hospital acquired Infec on
 Diarrheal diseases, Cholera
 ARI, Pneumonia, Influenza, Measles, Rubella
 Skin diseases
 HIV/AIDS/STI
 Zoono c diseases
 Enteric fever, hepa s
 Leprosy and Disability
 Acute encephali s syndrome, Meningi s

3. Non-Communicable Diseases
 Cardiovascular diseases
 Cancer
 Diabetes
 Chronic respiratory diseases
 Cerebro vascular diseases
 Other Condi ons
 Renal diseases
 Hearing and Visual Disability
 Connec ve ssue, immunological disorders, osteoporosis

4. Neonatal and Child Health

 Diarrheal diseases, Enteric Fever
 Neonatal Health
 Childhood Asthma
 Child survival and development: mortality, morbidity, neonatal and
child health programmes
 New born care problem – hypothermia, LBW, sepsis, prematurity,
birth asphyxia
 Congenital anomalies/diseases
 Nutri onal status and trends
 Immuniza on coverage
 Hemato oncological problem
 Childhood mental health problem
 Referral and transport of sick neonates and children
 Development and provision of neonatal and pediatric high and
intensive care in district hospitals

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5. Reproductive Health
 Safe motherhood program, effec veness and u liza on
 Maternal health – mortality, morbidity, health seeking behavior
 Pregnancy and delivery – place of delivery, safe delivery incen ve
program, availability, accessibility and u liza on of ante natal, intra
natal and post natal care and services
 FP services: Unmet needs for contracep on and services,
Contracep ve Prevalence Rate, Emergency Contracep on
 Unwanted pregnancy, Abor on
 Adolescent health including reproduc ve health: sexuality, early
marriages and pregnancy

6. Mental Health and Substance Abuse

 Na onal psychiatry morbidity survey
 Psycho-epidemiology
 Alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse
 Mental health service system
 Community mental health program
 Stress and anxiety
 Post trauma c stress disorders
 Shock and depression
 Mental Health Legisla on and policy
 Suicides

7. Injuries, Accidents & Violence

 RTAs, Burns, Trauma and Injuries,
 Suicide, Poisoning (such as Mushroom)
 Disaster (natural and anthropogenic)

8. Nutrition and Food safety

 Nutri onal disorders: Malnutri on (Under nutri on, Overweight &
Obesity)
 Micronutrient deficiency disorders
 Community programmes for nutri on, different approaches to
improve nutri on
 Food security and safety
 Food adultera on, food poisoning
 Nutri on educa on and evalua on
 Management of different nutri onal disorders
 Myths and Misconcep ons

9. Environment and Occupational Health

 Water, Sanita on and Hygiene (WASH)
 Air pollu on: outdoor and indoor
 Climate change and health
 Occupa onal health and safety: child labour, People in uniforms,
hazardous industries and occupa on, workplace safety, laboratory

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 and radiological staffs
 Domes c and industrial waste: solid or liquid waste management,
industrial Pollu on
 Hospital safety and health facility waste management
 Lead, Mercury and other heavy metal poisoning, childhood poisoning
 Pes cides & health
 Emerging diseases rela ng to climate change
 Quality of water: Arsenicosis, water pollu on
 Burden of diseases of environmental origin

10. Traditional Medicine

 Tradi onal Prac ces
 Ayurvedic medicine/ Regula ons of drug produc on and supply
 Medicinal plants
 Other systems of medicine: Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Unani, Amchi,
Acupuncture (U liza on pa erns, effec veness studies)
 Intellectual property rights
 Resource mapping
 Herbal treatment for various chronic diseases

11. Urban Health

 Ins tu onal arrangement and service delivery system

12. Geriatric Health

 Social protec on and rehabilita on
 Health services for geriatric popula on
 Geriataric health problems

13. Miscellaneous
 Epidemics: Surveillance, Outbreak Inves ga on, Screening,
surveillance of Adverse events following immuniza on (AEFI),
Sen nel surveillance
 School Health: Physical and psychological health, adolescent health,
immuniza on
 Ethics: Professional, medical and research ethics
 High alƟtude sickness: Acute mountain sickness, high al tude
pulmonary and cerebral edema
 Vulnerable PopulaƟons: Sex workers, drug users, migrant workers,
prisoner’s, women, children, etc.

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