The Zamboanga Consortium for Health Research and Development (ZCHRD) through the DOST’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) announces the initial approval of funding support to three (3) local health research proposals in Zamboanga City.

The research proposals are 1) “Documentation of the Perinatal Practices of the Subanen, Badjao & Tausug in Zamboanga City Basis for Enhanced Health Care Services” by Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) - College of Nursing; 2) “Assessment of School-based Nutrition Health Program in Public Elementary Schools in Zamboanga City” by Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) - College of Communications & Humanities; 3) “The Status of Breastfeeding Program of the government among Selected Low Income Barangays in Zamboanga City” by WMSU - College of Communications & Humanities.

Specifically, Pzifer’s funding is under the program re “Providing an Enabling Environment for Research in Health (PEER Health). This program is a tripartite partnership of the PCHRD, University of the Philippines Manila - National Institutes of Health (UPM-NIH) and Pfizer Philippines Foundation.

The PEER Health Research Grant Program promotes the value of health research by supporting local researches that respond to current and relevant health concerns in the Philippines. Through this program, interested young researchers will be provided funding support, training, and mentoring on research protocol development, project implementation, good clinical practice, research ethics, data analysis, and publication of results in a scientific journal.

Applicants-researchers should be no more than 45 years of age, a Filipino citizen, and affiliated with a pre-selected research-based institution. The research topic must fall within the following areas:

1. Ways to address the problem of malnutrition in a resource-poor setting;
2. Evaluation of strategies for controlling parasitic infections in endemic areas;
3. Strategies to improve health-seeking behavior and access to reproductive health services;
4. Public health interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality (e.g. pre-pregnancy package implementation and birth outcomes,factors affecting home deliveries vs. health facility deliveries, and factors affecting adolescent and teen pregnancies);
5. Interventions for the prevention and control of important infectious diseases such as dengue, leptospirosis, measles, TB, etc.;
6. Impact of climate change on health; and
7. Role of complementary and alternative medicine.

ZCHRD is an organization created to optimize the use of research to help alleviate the health and nutrition problems of the people in Region IX, with financial and technical support of the DOST-PCHRD. The consortium is led by the ADZU with Dr. Teresita Montano as the Chairperson.