The George Institute is delighted to be a launch member of the WHO's new Global Clinical Trials Forum (GCTF), a global, multi-stakeholder network to strengthen clinical trial environments and infrastructure at national, regional and global levels. The Forum responds to World Health Assembly resolution WHA75.8, which called on WHO to improve the quality and coordination of clinical trials to generate high-quality evidence for health decision-making.
The GCTF supports the implementation of WHO's Guidance for Best Practices for Clinical Trials, which sets out principles and actions to improve the design, conduct, oversight and use of trials. It is further guided by the Global Action Plan for Clinical Trial Ecosystem Strengthening (GAP-CTS), which translates the guidance into nine priority action areas addressing barriers across current clinical trial ecosystems.
'The George Institute is proud to be a launch member of this vital initiative,' said Professor Anushka Patel, the Institute's CEO. 'High quality, practice-changing clinical trials have always been a fundamental component of the work we do at The George and will continue to be a big part of our future. We look forward to exchanging ideas and experience with this network to help build a robust global trials ecosystem that ultimately improves the lives of millions of people around the world.'
As a launch member of the GCTF, The George Institute will support capacity strengthening to advance the objectives of WHA75.8 and WHO's clinical trials guidance through training and teaching materials. The Institute will share learning from its experience around innovations in clinical trials, including piloting decentralized and digital trial models in diverse settings, and will facilitate knowledge sharing between the GCTF and other networks of which it is a member.
By connecting diverse stakeholders, including Member States, regulators, ethics authorities, funders, researchers, civil society and patient/community engagement organizations, the GCTF provides a collaborative platform for members to disseminate WHO guidance and best practices, engage and advocate with stakeholders to promote adoption of standards, and share knowledge to strengthen capacity and advance inclusive, ethical and impactful clinical trials.
The Global Clinical Trials Forum represents a significant step towards ensuring that all countries have the capacity to generate reliable evidence to guide health policy and practice.
