MSF Statement on EB152/13 - Strengthening clinical trials to provide high-quality evidence on health interventions and to improve research quality and coordination
UN Photo/Christopher Black
The WHO report on clinical trials outlines some of the challenges of generating clinical evidence. However, it fails to embed access considerations in its core. There is a need for access conditions and principles, and transparency of clinical trial data and costs, as highlighted by Member States at the intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) and the International Health Regulations (IHR) Review Committee, to enable access to technologies and know-how. Equally, a comprehensive system of access and benefit sharing for clinical trials is needed to facilitate timely sharing of pathogens and genomic sequences.
These aspects should be central both in the best practices document to be developed by the WHO Secretariat, mandated by the WHA Clinical Trial Resolution, as well as the self-assessment tool that needs to be designed with broad participation and representation, particularly from LMICs, to improve clinical trial design across settings.
