Capacity building : Health research moot begins Feb 15

Event will be held at Khyber Medical University.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber Medical University (KMU) will organise a three-day health research conference from February 15 to 17.

The conference, which is being organised by the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC), is aimed at capacity building for health research to strengthen Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) academic institutions and healthcare system.



ORIC Director Dr Mukhtiar Zaman Afridi told journalists at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday that this year’s conference comprising a range of activities, including six postgraduate courses on important issues in health and research and plenary sessions to initiate debate.  Foreign experts will also take part in the conference, he said.



The event will cost Rs2 million and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been requested to pay half this amount.  So far, the HEC has not responded.

He maintained KMU is eager to go ahead with the event even if the required funds are not provided.

Having already introduced a two-year Master’s in Health Research programme along with a two-month certification in Health Research, KMU is currently in the process of arranging a bio-ethics programme. In addition to forging partnerships with institutions such as Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization, financial aid of Rs100,000 and Rs50,000 has been arranged for PhD and MPhil students respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2013.