March 1, 2023 – The UP Manila National Institutes of Health (UPM-NIH) celebrated its 25th founding anniversary through a research conference held on Feb. 27-28 at the University of the Philippines – Bonifacio Global City (UP BGC).
With the theme “Transforming Philippine Health Systems Towards Universal Health Care Through Research Partnerships,” the conference emphasized the critical role of quality research on Universal Health Care (UHC) implementation. It also discussed what strong collaborations can do to advance evidence-based interventions which are all geared towards establishing a sustainable UHC system.
“To reach our goal of health for all, we recognize that we can only do this if we do it together through research partnerships and collaborations”, NIH Executive Director Eva Cutiongco-de la Paz said during her opening speech.
Keynote speaker DOH OIC Secretary Dr. Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire stated that the DOH will continue to strengthen its partnership with the UPM-NIH because the country will soon be establishing centers for disease control and prevention where the NIH’s research expertise will be highly needed.
UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla, for her part, thanked the University of the Philippines (UP) for relentlessly supporting the UPM-NIH all these years. According to her, the system has provided “an environment for creativity and out-of-the-box thinking [to NIH constituents] that led to products and policies”.
“To reach our goal of health for all, we recognize that we can only do this
if we do it together through research partnerships and collaborations”
“For the last 25 years, NIH’s scientists and researchers have tirelessly pursued avenues that led to actionable policy. We have legislation implemented in our hospitals, healthcare facilities, and laboratories. This is the kind of output that is required in a country whose healthcare system understandably is fragile,” said UP President Angelo Jimenez as he emphasized the huge contribution of UP Manila NIH to the nation’s healthcare system.
Also highlighted in the conference was the historical signing of two memoranda of understanding (MOU) between the UPM-NIH and DOH; one, on the creation of the Institute for Health Promotion at UP Manila and two, on the expansion of the existing National Practice Guidelines Program.
Overall, the conference had seven plenary sessions—five of which were conducted on the first day and two on the second day. Topics such as primary care, challenges in accessing health care, and harnessing big data for UHC were discussed in these sessions. After these, five simultaneous workshops were held in the second day that tackled diverse topics such as geriatric care and clinical research capacity building.
This first-ever hybrid anniversary conference was participated in by about 250 guests onsite and more than 800 online.
I Francis Nicole G. Maga
