KATHMANDU: A two-day regional meeting of South Asian Forum for Health Research (SAFHeR) on multi-centric research and strengthening health research communication started here today.

The meeting was participated by representatives from the South Asian countries and UK, Thailand, Vietnam and Africa.

Dr Dhirgha Singh Bom, secretary, Ministry of Health and Population, said the government had developed a 10-point guideline for the ministry. He said the the interim constitution had ensured improved health service.

Addressing the inaugural session of SAFHeR, Dr Bom said they were working to ensure equity in the health sector. He said efforts were underway to ensure basic health services to all, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups and also to put health at the centre of development.

The official said National Health Research Council would be given better resources and stressed resource mobilisation, technology transfer and collaborative research to improve the sector. According to him, meeting the Millennium Development Goals and treating chronic diseases could not be achieved through a conventional approach.

Prof Dr Ramesh Kant Adhikari, a research communication and ethics expert, pointed at the lack of mechanism to summarise and publicise research findings.

He also cited lack of research documentation, and often redundancy in research publication, in South Asia.