COLLEGE HUMAN HEALTH RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEESTAKEHOLDERS’ MEETING

The College Human Health Research Ethics Committee (CHHREC) is the research bioethics andoversight committee of the College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) and isembedded within the structure of the Fiji Institute of Pacific Health Research (FIPHR)1. It wasestablished in 2011 in response to the requirement of the Fiji National University that every Collegemust set up a research ethics committee. The CHHREC also complies with the requirements ofinternational ethical guidelines on the conduct of research involving humans. The CHHREC wasaccredited by the Fiji National Human Research Ethics Review Committee (FNHHREC) of theMinistry of Health and Medical Services in 2019, authorizing it to issue full approvals for researchproposals that have met the ethics review requirements of CHHREC, as per its Standard OperatingProcedures (SOP). Previously, all CMNHS proposals were required to be submitted to the FijiNational Human Health Research Ethics Committee (FNHHREC) after the CHHREC has issued a fullapproval.Research is a mandatory course in all of the Masters programmes of CMNHS and is graduallybecoming a requirement in the graduating year of most of undergraduate programmes. There hasalso been more research capacity building for our staff over the years, and corresponding increasein staff research activities in the College. An essential component of teaching research to the staffand students of CMNHS is the strong emphasis on understanding the role of ethical considerationsin research. It is important that all involved in the research projects maintain a high level of researchethics awareness as this will influence how the research project is designed, implemented,monitored and results disseminated.A prime role of any ethics committee, like the CHHREC, is to provide expert guidance to researchprojects primarily to protect the lives of research participants from prospective harm or risk, thatare physical, psychological, socio-cultural, economic and financial in nature. Ethics committeeswork to ensure that researchers uphold the research participants’ dignity, rights and health andmore so, to achieve improved health and benefits as they participate in research. CHHREC also workto enforce methods to protect institutions such as CMNHS from institutional risks posed by theconduct of research. CHHREC also works in partnership with other organizations who may need toestablish an ethics committee, or general assistance with research bioethics issues that arise fromtime to time.CHHREC members and external professional reviewers review the research being proposed to beconducted by staff and students of the CMNHS and their affiliates, locally, regionally andinternationally. The research project is not allowed to begin unless it has gone through CHHRECreview processes. These processes comply with international research practices which also extendsto requirements of publishers. The CHHREC governs the appointment of members as well as definesspecific terms of appointment and roles for members and reviewers