Correct, accurate and firm research findings to contribute to improvement of health standards

The following is the speech delivered by Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Thadoe Maha Thray Sithu Thadoe Thiri Thudhamma Min Aung Hlaing to the opening ceremony of the 52nd Myanmar Health Research Congress, held yesterday.
As my greetings, I wish for all officials, internal and international researchers, and guests attending today’s 52nd Myanmar Health Research Congress to be physically and mentally well-being with auspiciousness.
The Ministry of Health holds the Health Research Congress for the 52nd time. This Congress will create chances for health researchers to present their research findings based on endeavours as a platform to exchange their valuable knowledge about health research findings. As such, it can be said that the Congress contributes much to ensuring long lifespan of everyone and to be free from danger for all set as a vision of the Ministry of Health.
Depending on the firm and precise research findings which came out from the health research process, health policies and guidelines and correct and accurate modern therapies could be exposed and adopted. As such, all research processes must be highly qualified research works. To do so, it is necessary to apply correct research technologies, and these kinds of research must be conducted in line with research ethics.
In order to highlight such a point, this year’s theme of the 52nd Myanmar Health Research Congress was chosen as “Enhancing Research Integrity and Research Ethics”. Veteran researchers from the research ethics committees under the Ministry of Health will lead assessments of the research papers.
I firmly believe that exchanging research ethics will result in good results, further strengthening the research ethics committees under the Ministry.
Moreover, a seminar titled Prevention of non-communicable Diseases and Lessening outbreak of Diseases will be held with discussions of veteran physicians and medical specialists for future health procedures to prevent and conduct effective treatments for hypertension, diabetes, obesity and cancer diseases. It will contribute to the emergence of correct therapies to prevent incommunicable diseases. Moreover, local and foreign experts will participate in discussions of cancer disease. As the Myanmar National Cancer Control Strategic Action Plan (2023-2027) schemed by experts from the Ministry of Health assessing many research findings on cancer diseases was introduced on 27 December 2023, the critical role of research findings can be seen.
It is necessary to conduct and monitor continuous research on the crucial role of non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases such as COVID-19, drug-resistant TB, Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever and malaria diseases. Moreover, research tasks must be done continuously to produce important basic factors to expose new therapies and vaccines. Establishing the modern molecule research centre’s laboratory at the Department of Medical Research (Yangon Head Office) took ten years at the 52nd Myanmar Health Research Congress in 2024. The laboratory was built with the assistance of the Korea International Cooperation Agency in 2014 to strengthen the research capacity over communicable diseases such as malaria, hepatitis and TB using modern technology and laboratory apparatuses and ensure the betterment of the healthcare system for the Myanmar people against communicable diseases. The laboratory comprises a section with more than biosecurity level 2 using modern laboratory technology for long-term training of researchers and technologists. As such, it was known that the modern molecule research centre played an essential role in the COVID-19 pandemic period in Myanmar.
Myanmar has been steadfastly conducting research and assessments over genes of variant COVID-19 pandemic, and at present, more than 300 tests over variant genes of COVID-19 were conducted at the Department of Medical Research. I take pride in knowing the information that the Ministry of Health disseminated information and data about variant COVID-19 spreading in Myanmar to the people.
Aimed at keeping records and documents related to the global COVID-19 pandemic, which broke out after a century, researchers from the Ministry of Health and the Defence Services Medical Research Unit jointly conducted research on the COVID-19 pandemic. I am pleased with the information that findings from the aforesaid research process will be presented in the research papers at this conference.
Research was performed on a new therapy for a communicable disease, namely drug-resistant TB disease, and medical treatments are being based on these findings for the patients. A seminar will take place with the participation of researchers from Myanmar and the Republic of Korea to discuss research findings of drug-resistant TB disease.
The seminar is scheduled for quality guarantee processes and cooperation in implementing the quality guarantee system at medical universities and schools. This year’s 52nd Myanmar Medical Research Congress will be held for five consecutive days from 11 to 26 January 2024, and 58 research papers and 51 research posters will be presented at the Congress. The Ministry of Health and relevant ministries have allocated more than K1.1 billion for implementing 201 research projects of researchers in the 2023-2024 financial year as part of the emergence of good research works in health sectors.
I praise local and international experts for their discussions at seminars, researchers for submitting posters and officials from the leading organizing committee for the Congress, work committee and subcommittees such as research paper supervision, research papers and posters, reception, best paper selection and information for their endeavours in systematically implementing the process of the Congress with relevant duty assignments.
In conclusion, as the 52nd Myanmar Medical Research Congress aims to improve health subjects in conducting health research so as to develop healthcare standards and to enable relevant health experts to know these research findings to be applied in practical fields, I firmly believe that firm research findings can contribute to a social objective of the State Administration Council “to elevate the health and sports sectors crucial for all the people, thus improving the nation’s life expectancy and health”. I would like to urge researchers with best wishes to constantly conduct qualified research in line with research ethics to stay abreast of the international community.
Thank you all.