Nepal, a South Asian country, was in nationwide lockdown for nearly three months in 2020 with partial restrictions still in place. Much worryingly, COVID-19 induced restrictions have confined women and young girls in their home, increasing the risk of domestic violence. The available support system to respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG) has also been disrupted during this period. The figures of violence against women, and child sexual abuse are increasingly being reported during the lockdown and thereafter. To mitigate this, a response against VAWG should not be a missing agenda. This commentary focuses on the situation of VAWG during COVID-19 induced restrictions in Nepal and offers a way forward for addressing the issue.

Due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown in Nepal, women and children face a greater risk of malnutrition and eventually leading to mortality and morbidity. To harness the progress made so far in improving the nutritional status of women and children, a focus on nutrition should be a part of the COVID-19 response plan.

Health research in Nepal initiated with a survey in malaria in 1952. The first regulatory body for health research was Nepal Medical Research Committee formed under Ministry of Health. Ethical Review Body is the first ethical review structure. Nepal Health Research Council is now an independent body to regulate health research in Nepal. Development of research ethics in Nepal is clearly evident with the development of ethical guidelines; functioning of Ethical Review Board; expansion of institutional review committees and initiation of online submission system. However, monitoring compliance with research ethics could be a challenge for the NHRC.

This is an open access article distributed on the terms of Creative Commons Attribution3.0 license. This work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, or otherwise used provided that the original work is properly cited. Author emails are available at the end of the article. Tweetable Abstract: Mental health research are surrounded by ethical challenges. Research stakeholders need to be responsible while conducting mental health research. AbstractPeople with mental health problems are considered as vulnerable population by national ethical guidelines of health research in Nepal. There are different ethical challenges in research involving people with mental health problems. Ethical challenges are related to study design, autonomy, beneficence and nonmaleficence, justice, respect for the environment and consent taking process. Respecting the human rights of those with mental health problems is necessary during research and this requires research stakeholders to be responsible.