Call for Abstract: National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal

Overview

The Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) is inviting abstract submissions for the 10th National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal, scheduled from 10-12 April 2024. The theme of this year summit is “Advancing Health and Population Research and Innovations: Achieving SDGs.” NHRC, the apex authority for health research in Nepal, organizes these summits annually since 2015 to encourage discussions among researchers, policymakers, and development partners in healthcare. It aims to promote evidence-based decision-making and collaboration within the healthcare community.

The National Health Policy 2019 of Government of Nepal highlights the significance of health research for both health improvement and economic growth. However, research findings are often overlooked when making policies, resulting in a gap between research and action. A national summit is necessary to bridge this gap, focusing on ways to use research effectively to shape policies and practices. This involves creating channels for better communication between researchers and policymakers. Given the current global challenges like environmental and climate changes and health crises, it is crucial to generate relevant and high-quality evidence to address these issues effectively.

The 10th National Summit with the theme titled “Advancing Health and Population Research and Innovations: Achieving SDGs” brings together researchers, academics, practitioners, and policymakers to share health and population research and discuss national health priorities. It aims to explore ways to translate research findings and innovations into informed decisionmaking and practice. Research for health and evidence informed decision making is pivotal in enhancing , maintaining and achieving overall health outcomes.

Objectives

The summit aims to

1. Foster collaboration, innovation, and dialogue among young researchers, experts, policymakers, and practitioners on current health priority areas in Nepal and
2. Gather evidence and facilitate the exchange of research evidence to emphasize the significance of health research in shaping policies and practices within the health and population sectors.

Thematic areas (sub-themes) for abstract submission

The summit main theme: Advancing Health and Population Research and Innovations: Achieving SDGs
Major areas:

1. Health Research Governance (Responsible Conduct of Research related acts, rules, regulation, governance, implementation challenges and opportunities);
2. Efficient and Responsive Health System: Quality and Equitable Health Services (Emergency response, disaster, pandemic, outbreak investigation, humanitarian response, readiness of health system, supply chain, health technologies (genomics and newer technologies), AMR, IPC, preclinical and clinical research);
3. Wider Determinants of Health (Climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, environmental health, healthy cities, WASH, Healthcare Waste Management, community engagements, food and nutrition, food quality, safety and regulations, sports medicine, interdisciplinary and GESI in Health and cross-cutting research);
4. Health Financing and Social Protection in Health (Insurance, health economics, and financing); Population, Migration and Ageing (Including GESI);
5. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (Sexual and reproductive health and rights, Gender-Based Violence, menstrual health and justice, Reproductive maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH));
6. Non-Communicable Diseases; Injuries and Mental Health (Cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma), diabetes; injuries; behavioral and mental health research);
7. Infectious Diseases (Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic infections, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, vector-borne diseases, infectious disease modeling and surveillance, zoonotic diseases, vaccine development and immunization, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), healthcareassociated infections (HAIs), innovations in diagnostics and therapeutics, outbreak investigations); and
8. Others (Other than the above-mentioned topics/ areas).
   Note: We will prioritize to policy relevant abstracts.

Abstract submission guidelines

Deadline for abstract submission: 19 March, 2024
General guidelines for abstract submission:

1. Only online submissions will be accepted for abstracts, which must present original work conducted exclusively in Nepal. Abstracts based on research conducted outside the country or from already published papers will not be considered, except for review articles (systematic and scoping reviews) with findings relevant to Nepal.
2. An ethical approval letter from the Ethical Review Board (ERB) of NHRC or NHRCapproved Institutional Review Committees (IRCs) is mandatory for submission, except for certain studies like systematic reviews and meta analyses, which may not require ethical approval.
3. Abstracts must adhere strictly to the guidelines provided for the summit and should be submitted online using the designated template. Resubmission of abstracts is not allowed except in cases of notified submission errors. In case of non-receipt of confirmation email, authors are advised to contact the Summit Focal Point at [email protected].
4. Abstracts should include sufficient information to provide a comprehensive overview of the presentation. Note that the scientific committee may request a full article, extended abstract or presentation copy. By submitting an abstract, authors consent to its publication in the Summit Proceedings and/or Abstract book.
5. Note: If you are unable to submit online, please contact the Summit Focal Point at: [email protected] or +977-01-4254220 for further information.

Date: April 10, 2024 – April 12, 2024
Location: Karki Banquet, Babarmahal, Kathmandu, Nepal

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