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“The healthcare services sector is expected to continuously propel ASEAN’s growth and economic activity,” the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stated while calling for the need to invest in health care of ASEAN member countries.

According to ASEAN, healthcare providers are dared to improve their skills and resources as life expectancy in the region is expected to be greater compared to other Asian countries. “As communicable diseases have successfully been placed under control and infant mortality ratio improves, focus in many ASEAN countries has shifted to treating chronic diseases and injuries which are top death causes,” ASEAN explained.

Nominations for the 2015 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) Prize through APEC Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI) is now open. The APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (“ASPIRE”) is an annual award which recognizes young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to both excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication and cooperation with scientists from other APEC member economies.

Each year the APEC host economy is asked to provide a theme to guide nominations for the ASPIRE Prize to be awarded in their host year. As its host year for 2015, the Philippines selected"Disaster Risk Reduction: Understanding the Role of Climate Change and Variability”as the ASPIRE nominating theme.This theme focuses on innovative technologies that may help economies adapt to the changing climate, protect the natural environment, and build resilient and sustainable societies. Nominations are therefore sought from young scientists under the age of 40 in subjects such as: sustainable development, environmental studies, ecology, disaster management, urban planning, and engineering, among others.

The winner will be announced during the 2015 ASPIRE Ceremony which is scheduled in August during the 6^th PPSTI Meeting in Cebu, Philippines.

For more information, please visit the 2015 ASPIRE Prize Websites at http://www.apec.org/aspire or http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2015/0202_ASPIRE.aspx

For questions and inquiries, you may contact Mr. Alex Rogers of the APEC PPSTI on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Ms. Tracy Huang, ASPIRE Prize sponsor’s representative on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Aside from plenary sessions, there are fun and exciting activities especially for the youth during the Global Forum on Research and Innovation for Health (Forum 2015) on 24-27 August 2015 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

Among the youth activities to look forward to are IT4Health, Global Health Debates (GHD) and Film Festival.

With the overall theme “People at the Centre of Research and Innovation for Health,” the activities aim to further discuss the topics on Social Accountability, Increasing Investments, Country-driven Capacity Building, Food and Nutrition Safety and Security, Health in Mega-Cities, and Disaster-risk Reduction.

IT4Health targets to promote information technology (IT) solutions or big data analytics arising from the topics. Programmers or software developers will be invited to submit their innovative health applications. The top three developers will then be given chances to present their ideas during the Forum and undergo social incubation, a 5-day training workshops to learn techniques in making their ideas more marketable and sustainable.

GHD, on the other hand, brings youth to discuss pressing global health issues and gather their interests and insights to the different forum topics. As the tournament will be held simultaneously with the Forum, debaters will also have the chance to listen in the plenary sessions and gain insights on health research and innovation developments globally. 

There will also be a Film Festival which is open to all amateur and professional film makers who can produce short films, documentaries and motion animations related to the forum topics. Winners of the film festival will also be awarded during the Forum.

If you are interested to participate, you can visit www.forum2015.org. The Forum 2015 is organized by the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), in partnership with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Department of Health (DOH). ■

The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST) is hosting the 14th Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region (FERCAP) Annual International Conference and the 1st Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) National Conference on 24-25 November 2014 at the Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City.

With the theme, “Embedding Ethics in National Health Research Systems,” the conference will highlight initiatives towards institutionalization of ethics within national systems and harmonization of good practices across the Asia Pacific region.

Topics to be featured include;

Models of Health Research Systems

• Conflict of Interest in Health Research
• Empowerment of Research Participants
• Effective Governance in Health Research
• Indicators of Ethical Health Research Systems
• Challenge and Issues in Health Research Systems
• Roles of Community Representatives in Research Ethics

Registration for the conference is Php5,000.00. For inquiries, please visit http://fercapphrebconference.healthresearch.ph/ or contact Mr. Jek Alcaraz at (02)837-7537 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..