The WHO joint statement from funders on trials transparency
- Posted
- 19 Jun 2017
- Authors
- Citation
- Goldacre, B. (2017). The WHO joint statement from funders on trials transparency. BMJ, j2816. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j2816
- Categories
It costs nothing for an organisation to issue vague statements in favour of transparency and integrity. This time, a World Health Organization joint statement on clinical trials transparency, signed by 15 major non-industry research funders (see box), gives unusual grounds for optimism. Where previous documents have been shapeless, this one makes clear commitments to transparency, with timelines; it promises unambiguous outcomes where compliance can be easily assessed; it gives technical details around implementation; and crucially it includes a commitment for open self-auditing, so progress can be monitored.