Ever think that the cure to a disease or the answer to one of modern medicine's questions must already be out there, and that some physician or pharma company is keeping it under wraps until they need to release it? Well in some cases you may be right, but now the World Health Organization is looking to change that. In a new statement recently released by WHO, the organization seeks to hold researchers and regulatory bodies accountable for keeping the public abreast to the findings of their recent research. And now their taking the opportunity in this month's issue of the journal PLOS Medicine to say something about it.
Calling the registration and reporting of all clinical trials a "scientific, ethical and moral responsibility" spokespersons with the WHO recently issued a new statement placing restrictions, or rather a timeline, on how and when researchers must report their work. But in light of many questions, Dr. Vasee Moorthy of the WHO and other colleagues from the organization published an essay in this week's issue of the journal PLOS Medicine, and they're saying that it's far more important than the general public may realize.
"WHO calls for ethics committees, regulatory authorities, professional bodies, sponsors, investigators and funding agencies to act in their jurisdictions to ensure results from all interventional clinical trials are reported and publicly disclosed."
Further than that the new statement defines timelines for researchers to report their findings, giving them 12 months after the study's completion to publish the results section of their clinical trial, and by publishing within a peer-reviewed journal within 24 months after completion.
The new statement promises a brighter future for clinical research, in light of many recent results coming to light, only after life-threatening outbreaks have arisen. Instead the WHO believes that preemptively ensuring that researchers publish their work in a timely manner, the general public and health community may stay abreast to what advancements are actually going on in the field, and just what treatments may one day soon be available.
