Cochrane has submitted a statement to the 74th World Health Assembly, which is taking place virtually this week (24 May to 1 June).

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is attended by representatives of all Member States.

Our statement emphasises the importance of clinical trial transparency within the context of global health crises, since it is not possible to make truly evidence-informed decisions without access to data from all clinical trials.

Read the full statement below:

Cochrane supports the Independent Panel’s report which identifies, alongside other strategies, evidence-informed decision-making as a clear route to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, one barrier to evidence-informed decision making is a lack of access to clinical trial data. Despite this being an ethical, and often legal, requirement, an unacceptable number of trials still go unpublished within the required timeframe, making it impossible to get a full picture of the evidence. Such delays are even more crucial in a global health emergency.

Cochrane backs the joint statement made by WHO and the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) earlier this month highlighting this issue. We call on Member States to actively enforce these standards, and for clinical trial sponsors to take their obligations seriously. Requirements for transparent registration and reporting of clinical trials during health emergencies should also be considered within the pandemic treaty.

Cochrane is  a strong advocate for clinical trial transparency. See below for recent updates in this area:

• Cochrane shows support for WHO-ICMRA statement on transparency and data integrity
• Cochrane signs letter asking medicines regulators in Europe to address unpublished clinical trials
• US FDA begins enforcement of clinical trial transparency regulation
• Cochrane Belgium partners on clinical trial transparency report
• Cochrane Austria launches joint trial transparency report
• Cochrane Sweden highlights under-reporting of Swedish clinical trials
• Read the Evidently Cochrane blog post 'Retention to clinical trials: how can we keep participants involved?'
• Read the Cochrane Review 'Strategies to improve retention in randomised trials'
• Free Webinar co-hosted by Cochrane Sweden: 'Clinical trial reporting and registration' on 16 June