The Makati Medical Center Institutional Review Board (MMC-IRB) was awarded the highest level of accreditation by the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) during the 32nd Anniversary of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.
A Level III Accreditation is the highest level conferred by the PHREB on an ethics board when it has met the following stringent criteria: demonstration of sufficient competency and efficiency in ethical review, adherence to appropriate standard operating procedures, presence of adequate administrative support, maintenance of updated database of reviewed protocols, and establishment of an efficient archival system.
The MMC-IRB is one of only eight accredited ethics review committees in the Philippines.
Saturnino P. Javier, MD (MMC-IRB Chair), Sonia E. Bongala, MD (MMC-IRB Vice-Chair) and Hazel Faye R. Docuyanan, RPh, MS (MMC-IRB Member-Secretary) receive the certificate for the MMC-IRB’s Level III Accreditation.
The awarding was held on March 14 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. It was the culmination of an accreditation process that began with a site visit in July 2013.
This accreditation gives MMC-IRB the privilege to be part of the Ethics Review Resource Committees of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. As such, it can be called upon by the FDA to conduct reviews on its behalf, as well as review new drugs or device protocols where results will be submitted in support of registration for marketing authorization.
This accreditation comes on the heels of the MMC-IRB’s FERCAP (Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific) recognition in November 2013.
Dr. Javier said this accreditation clears all possible obstacles to MakatiMed’s thrust on research. He added that the ethics board is now poised to provide the pivotal ethical support to all research undertakings that the hospital and its units may opt to embark on.