The End: Health Ministerr Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi (L) Presents A Certificate To A Workshop Participant.

Bandar Seri Begawan - In A move to help stave off an "epidemic" of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, experts at a two-day workshop have called for the Ministry of Health (MoH) establish a national research department.

The recommendation comes after the Health Policy Planning and Health Systems Research Workshop attended by some 50 participants, mostly MoH senior officers.

The workshop was charged with drawing up a template from which to develop the National Health Research Plan.

At the opening of the workshop the ministry's Policy and Planning Director Hjh Fatmah PJDSMDSU (Dr) Hj Md Jamil explained that the blueprint contained strategies and milestones for the National Health Research Plan, which will support the MoH's vision 2035 strategy map, themed "Together towards building a healthy nation".

In his presentation, Prof Phua Kai Hong, a consultant from Singapore's National University, highlighted health issues on epidemiological trends, or simply the study of diseases in human population, that were raised during discussions at the workshop.

He also discussed key Brunei health concerns, including non-communicable diseases such as obesity, which he said reflected the lifestyle and culture of Bruneians.

Prof Phua suggested that the research department be under the Mows National Research Council, which would oversee and monitor the research department's effectiveness and efficiency. Aimed at advancing and supporting research towards improving health services, the research department would also need to take up the mantle of training health researchers by using human resource development principles and training health services research guidelines, the professor stressed.

Under the Brunei's National Health Research Plan, the ministry would use one per cent of its five-year budget for research with five full-time, qualified researchers per 100,000 population, while for the next 15 years, the expenditure would reach between two to three per cent, the same as in Singapore, he said. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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