[afro-nets] WHO Registry Provides Free Access To Research Results

[Dr Rana Jawad Asgha" <<jawad@alumni.washington.edu>>]

WHO Registry Provides Free Access To Research Results
-----------------------------------------------------

Monday, April 5, 2004
http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040405/449_22474.asp


Under a new project co-sponsored by the World Health Organiza-
tion announced Friday, physicians and researchers across the
globe will have free online access to the results of the latest
clinical trials in reproductive health, infectious diseases,
vaccines and other medical fields.

As of Friday, all randomized controlled trials - considered the
best way to compare the success of various methods of disease
prevention or treatment - that receive approval from the WHO
ethics review board will be assigned a number and catalogued un-
der a register set up by WHO and an independent publishing
house, London-based Current Controlled Trials Ltd.

The International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number
Register will for the first time make readily available research
about neglected diseases, many of which disproportionately af-
fect the poor in developing countries.

According to the WHO, although randomized controlled trials are
a primary source of medical knowledge, they are spottily re-
ported and inconsistently organized. They are also subject to
"publication bias," whereby trials are not published because of
negative findings or language barriers. Researchers do not al-
ways have access to the journals in which the trials are eventu-
ally published.

In the first phase, all trials pertaining to human reproduction
have been included in the register, with trial pertaining to in-
fectious diseases, childhood diseases, vaccines and other fields
to follow (WHO release, April 2).

--
Dr Rana Jawad Asghar
Coordinator South Asian Public Health Forum
http://www.saphf.org
Typhoid Information Group
http://www.typhoid.net
My Home on Internet
http://www.DrJawad.com
mailto:jawad@alumni.washington.edu