The two-day celebration of the Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Week kicked off on a high note on 10 August 2010 as close to 400 participants from the different parts of the country gathered together to bring to the fore challenges and opportunities surrounding the PNHRS today.

Five sessions were held simultaneously on the following topics: (1) Sustaining Quality Health Research through Ethical Review; (2) Health Research Agenda / Technology Transfer Act of 2009 and University Readiness; (3) Writing Your Research in Peer-Reviewed Journals; (4) Presentation of Regional Research Projects; and (5) Research Repository Now: Easing access to research and expertise.

Among the next steps that the participants agreed on to further make the PNHRS more responsive to the current health research environment include organizing a national forum for health research ethics, coming up with the 2011 revised edition of the National Ethical Guidelines on Health Research, engaging in a comprehensive evaluation of the  National Unified Health Research Agenda, raising awareness on the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009, and maximizing usability of HERDIN as a research repository tool.

The event also served as a platform to showcase some of the completed studies in the regions as well as to enhance researchers' know-how in writing and publishing research results.

This year's PNHRS Week, the fourth annual national meeting of the System's various stakeholders since 2007, has its focus on the theme "Convergence in  Divergence: Resource Sharing for More Mileage in Health Research".