Registering clinical trials
Authors: Frank Lie
Journal: The Lancet (2004)

I share the view of Timothy Evans and colleagues (May 1, p 1413)1Evans T Gulmezoglu M Pang T Registering clinical trials: an essential role for WHO.Lancet. 2004; 363: 1413-1414Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (42) Google Scholar that much research is wasted because some important studies are not published. Evans and co-workers are also concerned that researchers in developing countries whose first language is not English might experience difficulty publishing in international indexed journals. However, the notion that WHO leading universal registration of studies in developing countries will allow equitable access to the results of relevant research might not happen in practice. Like many international agencies, including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, WHO has been hijacked by the alliance of dominant classes2Navarro V The world situation and WHO.Lancet. 2004; 363: 1321-1323Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar in dictating its policies and practices. One example was the failure of the WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN)3WHOGlobal health security—epidemic alert and response. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2000.http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB107/ee5.pdfGoogle Scholar in responding to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in China. SARS is a timely reminder of the growing threat to humanity from infectious disease. WHO set up GOARN to maintain global-health security, but it was frustrated by the influence of dominant nations; in this instance, China managed to delay everything that WHO aimed to do. Moreover, since the 23 million people of Taiwan are excluded from WHO, there is a serious gap in the GOARN network. Outside WHO, my friends and colleagues in Taiwan are compromised in matters of global-health policy discussions, technical connections, and disease control and prevention. Scholars in Taiwan are inhibited in developing public-health policy and promoting good practice owing to lack of support. They were barred from attending the WHO influenza symposium in March—an example that contradicts the spirit behind universal access to health-related knowledge for health improvement. For the universal registration of controlled trials to succeed, I agree with Vicente Navarro2Navarro V The world situation and WHO.Lancet. 2004; 363: 1321-1323Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar that WHO should be faithful to its constitution and charters, which state that health is one of the fundamental human rights of every human being, and that it should stop ostracising the people of Taiwan. Many parliamentarians from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, and the European Parliament, together with the British Medical Association and the World Medical Association, have recognised the dangers and pitfalls of allowing China to hold WHO ransom in matters of global health. The Lancet Editorial4The LancetChina: towards "xiaokang", but still living dangerously.Lancet. 2004; 363: 409Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar echoed the difficulty of China's weak commitments to international human-rights agreements. I hope that the initiative of universal sharing of health-related knowledge for health improvement will allow WHO to turn a new page and succeed in their essential role.