How COVID-19 has fundamentally changed clinical research in global health

Jay J.H. Park, Robin Mogg, Gerald E. Smith, Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu, Fyezah Jehan, Craig R. Rayner, Jeanine Condo, Eric H. Decloedt, Jean B. Nachega, Gilmar Reis, Edward J. Mills

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

132 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

COVID-19 has had negative repercussions on the entire global population. Despite there being a common goal that should have unified resources and efforts, there have been an overwhelmingly large number of clinical trials that have been registered that are of questionable methodological quality. As the final paper of this Series, we discuss how the medical research community has responded to COVID-19. We recognise the incredible pressure that this pandemic has put on researchers, regulators, and policy makers, all of whom were doing their best to move quickly but safely in a time of tremendous uncertainty. However, the research community's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has prominently highlighted many fundamental issues that exist in clinical trial research under the current system and its incentive structures. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only re-emphasised the importance of well designed randomised clinical trials but also highlighted the need for large-scale clinical trials structured according to a master protocol in a coordinated and collaborative manner. There is also a need for structures and incentives to enable faster data sharing of anonymised datasets, and a need to provide similar opportunities to those in high-income countries for clinical trial research in low-resource regions where clinical trial research receives considerably less research funding.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e711-e720
JournalThe Lancet Global Health
Volume9
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2021

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