Dr. Zaw Zaw Oo presented the findings of his research project at 17th FERCAP International Conference & 5th FERCI National Conference – Nov 19-21, 2017 held in Delhi, India. The title of his presentation was “Self Assessment on the Structure and Functions of Research Ethics Committees of Medical Institutions in Myanmar“. Dr. Zaw Zaw Oo had all 16 University Research Ethics Committees (RECs) complete a self-assessment tool. His findings showed that out of a maximum 200 points, the total mean score for Myanmar Medical Institutions RECs was 112.6 ± 12.77 (median=110) compared to aggregate mean score of 137.4 ± 35.8 in Egypt, South Africa and India published in a previous study. Domains in which the average percentage score was less than 60% included organizational commitment, membership and ethics training, review policy, approval letter and continuing review. Many RECs have sufficient members other than physicians and scientists with excellent gender balance. All Chairs have prior ethics training. His major conclusions were that RECs in Myanmar Medical Universities have many structures and processes in place to review research and lack other essential items that need to be addressed. Organizational support needs to be enhanced. The self-assessment tool proved to be valuable method to assessing quality of RECs.
