TN: JIPMER granted international accreditation

Chennai: The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) has earned another feather in its cap by receiving an international accreditation from the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region (Fercap) for its high ethical standards in research work.

The accreditation shield was given away to the JIPMER Research team at the 16th International Annual Conference of Fercap held at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital Campus, Bangkok, Thailand, as stated in a release of the institute.

JIPMER Dean (Research) B Vishnu Bhat, faculty (Research), D M Thappa and Jipmer's Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) member and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) former Deputy Director General Vasantha Muthuswami received the accreditation shield on behalf of JIPMER.

A survey on 'Strategic initiative for developing capacity in ethical review' (Sidcer) was conducted by a team comprising of Fercap Administrator (Thailand) Arthur Navarro, Sri Lanka, Yashashri Shetty from Seth G S Medical College,Pathmeswaran from University of Kelaniya, Mumbai and Lalitha Saverdekar from National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai.

An exhaustive audit of the structure and functioning of the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) for human studies was part of the survey conducted.

S C Parija, Jipmer,Director revealed that the international accreditation was applied for in an effort to strengthen the process of ethical review of research projects, undertaken by JIPMER.

The team appreciating the work of the existing IEC, offered recommendations for its future improvement.

A revised standard operating procedure as per the Sidcer's recommendations that was evolved by the IEC and submitted to Fercap won the institute the international accreditation.