(22 January 2024)
Officials, external and internal researchers and distinguished guests at this 52nd Myanmar Health Research Congress, I wish you all health, happiness and auspiciousness.
The Ministry of Health has sponsored the health research congress for the 52nd time. The successive congresses created opportunities to highlight the efforts and research results and the benefits to discuss and share the results.
Hence, they are so much supportive of the Health Ministry’s goals – longevity and a disease free life for all – and the results stand witness to their importance and effectiveness.
Thanks to the research findings based on solid research evidence, the country could adopt health policy directives and potent and reliable therapies.
As they are producing the fundamental facts, they must be high quality research programs. In this regard, all research programs must be carried out with correct means that meet the research ethics.
In order to highlight the fact, the 52nd congress was held with the theme “Enhancing Research Integrity and Research Ethics”. As it is an ethics related congress, veteran researchers of the research ethnic committees under the Health Ministry will play the leading role. It is believed that the congress will produce good results that will help strengthen those committees by sharing knowledge on ethical technologies.
Seasoned practitioners, medical experts will take part in a seminar on “Prevention and alleviation of non-communicable diseases”, as non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cancer that occur globally due to the changes in lifestyles.
Hence, the congress will surely produce correct therapies to control non-communicable diseases. Local and foreign experts will take part in holding talks on cancer. The introduction of a strategy “Myanmar National Cancer Control Strategic Action Plan (2023-2027)” on 27 December 2023 underscores the importance of research findings. Based on a number of research findings, it was compiled by experts of the Ministry of Health.
Likewise, infectious diseases such as COVID-19, drug resistant tuberculosis, dengue fever, malaria, must be constantly monitored and research must be conducted on them.
An ongoing research program is a requisite to discover basic facts that may lead to inventing new therapies and vaccines.
The age of the advanced molecular research laboratory of the Medical Research Department (Yangon HQ) reached 10 years in 2024 in which the 52nd congress was held.
It was built in 2014 with the aid provided by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). Its aim is to reinforce the research capacity on three infectious diseases – malaria, dengue fever, TB, and to improve healthcare cover against the infectious diseases in Myanmar by applying modern technologies and facilities. It is reported that the Advanced Molecular Research Center played an important role during the COVID-19 epidemic in Myanmar because the laboratory has advanced technology and meets the biosafety level (2) standards.
In Myanmar, the genetics of COVID-19 variants are constantly being researched and analyzed, and more than 300 screening tests have been conducted at the Department of Medical Research so far. I am happy and proud that the Ministry of Health can continuously share information to inform the public about the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
More than a hundred years ago, there was a global pandemic of the Spanish flu. To preserve the records of the current pandemic of COVID-19 for future generations, researchers from the Tatmadaw Medical Research Corps under the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health have cooperated in research on the global epidemic. I am very happy and proud to know that the results from this research will be submitted and presented at this conference.
Tuberculosis is an important infectious disease, and a new treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis has been researched and is being used in clinical practice for patients.
There will also be an academic seminar in which researchers from Myanmar and South Korea will participate and discuss the research findings for drug resistant TB. In order to increase the implementation of the quality assurance system in schools and universities related to medicine and pharmacology, there will be quality assurance processes and an academic seminar on cooperation.
I believe that the research papers and posters submitted and presented at this year’s 52nd Myanmar Health Research Conference will fully support the national health policies expected by the State.
As I have learned that the tasks and responsibilities have been set and properly implemented to hold such a big conference successfully, I also would like to say that we have recorded and praised the officials from the conference organizing committee, work committee and sub-committees and the researchers who submitted and presented papers and posters and the local and foreign experts who participated in the seminars.
In conclusion, by holding the 52nd Myanmar Health Research Conference, we hope that the goals of the conference, which are to improve health science through health research, to raise the standard of health care, and to allow relevant health professionals to learn and discuss the research findings, will be met. I believe that the strong research results obtained from the conference will support one of the social objectives of the State Administration Council, “Promoting the health sector and the sports sector that will cover all the people for the longevity and health of the nation”.
Thank you all.
