The Philippines will host the Global Forum on Research and Innovation for Health 2015 or Forum 2015 on August 24-27, 2015 where over 2,000 delegates from the government, business, non-profit organizations, and academic and research institutions from at least 50 countries will convene to discuss and identify solutions to unmet global health needs.

To be held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, Forum 2015 is jointly organized by the Department of Science and Technology through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) and the Department of Health (DOH) in cooperation with Council on Health Research and Development (COHRED), an international non-government organization that supports health research initiatives of developing countries.

Pres. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III will keynote the opening ceremony on August 24.

Many firsts

Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, executive director of PCHRD, proudly announced during a recent press conference that, for the first time, a host country’s departments of science and technology and health have joined forces in staging this forum.   “This is what they (organizers) want to happen-  the research side and policy side should be in the same conference,” he said.

Dr. Montoya added that, for the first time as well, much of the Forum program was driven largely by the host organizers.  According to him, this is important because this will ensure that the health concerns and agenda of the Philippines and other developing countries will be given emphasis.

The global forum was borne out of the need to address the so-called 90/10 gap—an observation that only 10 percent of the health researches  are being conducted to serve the needs of 90 percent of the population.  

Established in 1997, the Forum (then called Global Forum on Health Research), has helped put forward the health issues of developing countries, according to Dr. Cecilia Cristina Acuin, chief of the Nutritional Assessment and Monitoring Division of DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

“We are now seeing more investments being placed in the problems of developing countries,” Dr. Acuin said. She added there is now increased capacity to do research and disseminate research in developing countries.

With the theme People at the Center of Health Research and Innovation, the Forum will have over 60 sessions covering six sub-themes namely social accountability, increasing investments, country-driven capacity building, food and nutrition safety and security, health in megacities, and disaster risk-reduction.

Dr. Montoya revealed that this year’s forum will also feature new and diverse events such as global health debates, film festival, and photo exhibit among others.

For more information about the Forum 2015, please log on to http://www.forum2015.org. (S&T Media Service)