Forum launched for providing grants to promote research in health sector

Pakistan is among the lowest spenders on health research where many young medical graduates and research enthusiasts fail to conduct research in their areas of interest due to lack of funding or strings attached to the availability of research grants from the government and international institutions, experts said at the recent inauguration of a medical research forum.

They said there are many junior researchers and medical students who are doing MPhil and PhD in Pakistan these days and want to do research work as part of their FCPS trainings, but they cannot initiate their own research projects because of many factors, including a lack of research culture.

The experts described Pakistan’s contribution to research and medical literature as “very disappointing” at the moment.

“In these circumstances, we have launched a research forum in collaboration with a local pharmaceutical company that comprises top health experts from Dow University Karachi, NICVD, Aga Khan University as well as other universities and medical institutions from Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta to provide small research grants to young researchers and promote the research culture in the country,” said Shaukat Ali Jawaid, editor of the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, while speaking at the launching ceremony of Pharmevo Research Forum

He maintained that despite being a nuclear power and most important country of the Islamic world, Pakistan’s contribution in the field of medical research and literature was unsatisfactory, and the main hurdle appeared to be the lack of funding and absence of an environment where research was promoted so that local solutions to local health issues and problems could be found.

The research initiative, Pharmevo Research Forum, is an initiative of the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences in collaboration with Clinicians and the local pharmaceutical firm, and its objective is to generate and disseminate scientific knowledge among researchers and work for capacity building to influence, lead and involve researchers in various research projects.

“This platform will also provide support to the research community by assisting them with the preparation and submission of research proposals and publications. It will provide funding opportunities to the health care professionals with limited access to funds, enabling them to start new projects,” said Jawaid.

The deputy chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pharmevo Limited, Syed Jamshed Ahmed, said their vision was to build a healthier society and to find out new knowledge through research and development, saying they established “Clinision” as a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) in 2001.

He added that they continued their collaboration with local institutions to promote research and find out new ways to treat different diseases and ailments in Pakistan.

“We believe the best relationship between a pharmaceutical company and the medical fraternity is creating new knowledge,” he said, adding that research would be the best methodology for new researchers to find new avenues of treating different diseases.

“With this research forum, we want to develop an ecosystem of research to promote research methodology and build clinical research centres at all the medical universities and medical colleges in the country.”

Director Medical Research of Pharmevo Dr Masood Javed said they would be providing a maximum of 200,000 to young researchers for completing their research project within 18 months. He added that a panel of experts led by Shaukat Ali Jawaid would decide and approve projects for funding in the field of health and medical sciences.

Other experts, including Prof Jahan Ara Ainuddin from the Dow University of Health Sciences, Prof Tahir Sagheer from the NICVD, Prof Anwar Ali Siddiqui, former faculty member of AKU, Prof Akhtar Sherin from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Prof Tayyba Wasim, Prof Feroz Memon and MD Pharmevo Limited Haroon Qasim, also spoke and lauded the initiative for the promotion of research in Pakistan.