Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) is the apex organization for health research in the country. The aims and objectives of BMRC are to improve, organize, and conduct scientific research in various fields of medicine, public health, and family planning (BMRC resolution 1976).
There are Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) exist in different institutions/organizations to review and approve scientific research protocols, theses, and dissertations. However, the composition, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and functionalities of IRBs vary among institutions. According to the mandate of BMRC (Clause 4 of role of BMRC under chapter 04 of National Health Research Strategy approved by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Memo No: MOHFW/Hospital-2/Misc.-16/07/06, Date: 05 January, 2009) , a strong coordination and monitoring mechanism under a regulatory framework needs to develop between IRB of different institutions and BMRC.
This Registration Guideline has been developed for collecting comprehensive information on health research conducted in Bangladesh to ensure the quality and uniformity of the ethical review process.