Brief Background
The SLH RERU is an independent body created by the San Lazaro Hospital medical and Nursing Personnel under the Hospital Director/ Medical Center Chief, whose responsibility is to ensure the protection of the rights, safety and wellbeing of the human subjects involved in the all health-related research and to provide public assurance of that protection.
In accordance with current and applicable national/international regulations, the SLH RERU has the sole Authority to approved, require modification to, or disapprove research protocols and or related documents as well as to ensure strict compliance with its relevant procedures after approval.
The SLH RERU reviews and monitors all health researches involve:
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• San Lazaro hospital Patients and personnel, done within the hospital premises by its hospital staff (e.g. hospitals-on training, fellows on-training consultants nurses etc.) , affiliated organizations (e.g. Department of Health, Department of Science and Technology etc.) and non- affiliated organizations (e.g. non SLH residents and fellows medical, nursing and allied health students of colleges and universities, pharmaceutical companies international researches etc.)
• Protocols done by the San Lazaro Hospital full-time staff areas outside the hospital premises (e.g. communities), except researches undertaken by part time hospital staff done outside the hospital.
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History
San Lazaro Hospital is 500-bed capacity hospital for infectious diseases. It was founded in 1577 by Fray Juan Clemente as a dispensary clinic in the Walled City of Intramuros. Through the years it has evolved from being a leprosy hospital, a contagious diseases hospital and now as a specialty national hospital for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine. Every year, thousands of patients are seen and admitted at San Lazaro Hospital. They suffer from diseases like malaria, dengue leptospirosis, rabies tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
One of the SLH’s mandates is to provide research services for medical and paramedical personnel. It was in 1983 when Dr. Catherine Ranoa, as the hospital director, initiated the creation of SLH Hospital Research Committee (HRC) and appointed Dr. Ruperto Sangalang as the first HRC chairman. HRC’s task was to ensure that research proposals adhere to scientific and ethical standards, monitor and evaluate research output and translate findings generated from researches into practice.
From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Norma Abejar served as the HRC chair. SLH-HRC continued to produce scientific researches, surveillance studies and clinical trials. These paved the way too many local and international publications.
In 2005, SLH-HRC changed its name to SLH-Research and Ethics Review Committee (RERC) and new members were appointed. RERC ensured adherence to scientific standards and protects rights and safety of human subjects in the conduct of research in the hospital.
Scientific researches, epidemiologic studies and clinical trials were done to help improve treatment protocols and guidelines.
In the same year, SLH- RERC members took on-line examination on Human Participant Protections. Education for research as part of Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) requirement for US funded researches. The RERC was approved and recognized by the United States Department of Health Human Services as an Institution Review Board, (IRB).
In 2012, new policies and guidelines on ethics review board were implemented by the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board of the Department of Science and Technology (PHREB-DOST) Preparation for SLH RERC accreditation had begun.
In 2014 a new set of officers for SLH-RERU were appointed. Accreditation preparations continued and by 2015. A new home was also given to RERC. It is now currently located at SLH Medical Building.
Finally, on March 10, 2016, RERC officially became Research Ethics and Review Unit, (RERU) upon approval of MCCII (HO # 124 s. 2016).
With the support of the hospital director and the management, RERU is looking forward to review monitor and adhere to international, national and institutional guidelines and policies of research.
Mission & Vision
To provide research that promotes full compliance to the approved national research standards, to ensure that itsmedical and
administrative staff as well as its external collaborators from the Philippines and the international research community conduct
research investigations according to the approved guidelines and protocols and to properly safeguard the
safety and rights of all research subjects.
The San Lazaro Hospital Research Ethics and Review Unit’s Vision is to be the forefront of quality medical research in the field of
Infectious disease and public health concerns.
