Get Over ‘Guinea Pig’ Stigma, Embrace Trials (The Star)

Get Over ‘Guinea Pig’ Stigma, Embrace Trials (The Star) Prof. Dato’ Dr. Hanafiah Harunarashid – Pro NC (Kampus Kuala Lumpur) & Prof Datuk Dr A. Rahman A. Jamal – UMBI

We have come a long way with our national healthcare infrastructure since independence in 1957. We reached another milestone at the start of this year when Malaysia became the seventh country included by a large multinational pharmaceutical company for a first in human (FIH) clinical trial, and the first within the Asia Pacific region, of a new, yet to be named drug being developed for use in rheumatology.

This is in line with current global thinking fresh out of the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic: That clinical trials can help improve health outcomes for all but they must be sustained all the time, even during and between crises – as summarised by the vision of “always on, always busy” at the World Health Assembly in May 2022.