“Sa siyensya at teknolohiya, ang ating kalusugan ay gaganda at sisigla. Science, technology, and innovation will not only create and protect wealth but, more importantly, promote health and human well-being.”
Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), discussed the role of research and development in the realization of UHC during the 25th Anniversary of the UP Manila National Institutes of Health on February 27, 2023, at UP BGC. The DOST provides support to health research initiatives through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.
“Our support for health research spans from conceptualization to utilization, including the areas of research management, ethics review, research dissemination, capacity building, technology transfer, and the translation of research into policy,” said Solidum.
He asserted that legislation plays a significant role in boosting research and innovation. In the past few years, several laws have been passed. Among these are the technology transfer law of 2009, the Philippine National Health Research System Act of 2013, the Balik scientist law in 2018, the Philippine Innovation Law in 2019, the innovation start-up law in 2019, and an amendment to the Magna Carta for Scientists Act in 2019. Passed in 2019, the universal healthcare law aims to provide accessible and inclusive healthcare systems for the Filipinos, and to achieve its full realization and ensure its good implementation, research is needed for evidence-based strategies, policies, and decision-making.
He stressed that DOST, together with the UP NIH, Commissioner of Higher Education (CHED), and the Department of Health (DOH), co-implement the Philippine Health Research System (PNHRS), which is a national framework and convergence strategy that aims to promote cooperation and integration of all health research efforts in the country to ensure that research contributes to evidence, informed health policies, and action.
DOST recently launched the agenda for 2023–2028, following the Harmonized National Research and Development Agenda. Priority research areas are the following: Tuklas Lunas program for drug discovery and development, diagnostics technologies, biomedical engineering, nutrition and food safety, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, digital technologies for health, re-emerging and emerging diseases, and mental health.
He discussed that together with UP Manila, DOST worked on the development of the Community Health Information Tracking System, or CHITS, which aims to contribute to the effective and efficient delivery of health services through appropriate information and communication strategies at the local level. The technology helps in reducing a patient’s waiting time and improves monitoring, patient care, efficient data encoding, and record retrieval. CHITS is being enhanced by Pivotal Peak Digital Health Solutions, Inc., a spin-off company of the University of the Philippines Manila to design and develop a two-way electronic referral system for service delivery networks. This enhancement project is supported under the DOST startup research grant program, which aims to support the research activities of startups in the health sector.
“Sa siyensya at teknolohiya, ang ating kalusugan ay gaganda at sisigla. Science, technology, and innovation will not only create and protect wealth but, more importantly, promote health and human well-being.” He asserted that the DOST has been committed to advancing research and development solutions that will alleviate healthcare burdens and make lives better for the Filipino people.
