Ethics review procedures

NHRC bears the responsibility of promoting high quality health and is permitted to publish and disseminate guidelines in order to make health research more scientific and ethically sound. During the Workshop on Ethics in Health Research which was organized by NHRC in 2008, seven members were delegated as a Taskforce Committee to accomplish this task and over the period of revision a series of workshops were held to garner further suggestions for revisions. The revised Guideline was disseminated in the Workshop on the Finalization of the Revised National Ethical Guidelines for Health Research in Nepal in 2010. With the suggestions from this workshop, definitive steps were taken to finalize the ethical guidelines. In the revised Guidelines the section on the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been added and is being implemented by the Ethical Review Board of NHRC. This document is an updated edition of the National Ethical Guidelines for Health Research in Nepal and Standard Operating Procedure which will assist the Ethical Review Board of NHRC in its commitment to promote and protect the dignity, rights, safety and well-being of all who are involved in health research. The guideline is based on 4 guiding principles (Autonomy, Justice, Beneficence and Respect for the Environment) that help researchers and institutions to respect all who are involved in health research.