World Health Day: Clinical trials important in helping build a fairer & healthier world, says ISCR

New Delhi: Extending its commitment to the World Health Day 2021 theme of Building a fairer, healthier world, the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) highlighted the important role of clinical trials in ensuring better and more affordable access to newer and more effective treatments for the world’s population. This becomes even more imperative with the COVID-19 pandemic which has put a spotlight on the growing inequities of resources and its increasing burden on vulnerable sections of the society.

“World Health Day is an important day to take stock of where we are and what we need to do to create a stronger clinical research ecosystem in India, a country which has the world’s second-largest population and the highest disease burden,” said Dr. Sanish Davis, President, ISCR. “We have seen several positive steps taken during the pandemic, particularly in digital adoption, to expedite approvals and conduct of clinical trials while ensuring adherence to ethics, quality and patient safety. We need to build on this further and ensure better and more widespread access to clinical trials across the country. I call upon all clinical research stakeholders to take learnings from the pandemic forward and collaborate with each other so that we can create a healthier future for everyone.”

According to www.clinicaltrials.gov, India does less than 1.2% of global clinical trials.

This World Health Day, the WHO is calling for action to eliminate health inequities, as part of a year-long global campaign to bring people together to build a fairer, healthier world. The campaign highlights WHO’s constitutional principle that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has put global healthcare systems under further stress. While the impact was felt globally, it was the harshest on the already-vulnerable communities, those more exposed to the disease and those who had lower access to quality health care services and therefore more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of lockdown and other pandemic restrictions.