Get over ‘guinea pig’ stigma, embrace trials

Photo: Filepic/The Star

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 (The Star, Jan 4; online at bit.ly/3RN2zVZ).

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.

However, when it comes to new therapeutic advances in medicine, Malaysians curiously tend to be overly cautious, readily waiting for others to try it out first to see if it is any good, and more importantly, if it is safe. At the same time, we are more likely to try out anything after being convinced by mere anecdotal evidence of efficacy from a friend or a family member, despite lacking substantial scientifically legitimate proof.

The fear of being a “guinea pig” sustains the stigma of clinical trials in the public mindset, but it must be overcome for the population to reap the benefit of this recent positive development in our healthcare system.

It has been a long road to reach this point, starting more than a decade ago when Malaysia began actively to create a viable clinical trial ecosystem locally that would attract global research to be conducted in various sites nationwide.

With a five-year strategic plan that began in 2016, major improvements in local readiness to support early phase studies were achieved, creating a supportive FIH trial ecosystem that meets international safety and quality standards, and also includes the support and coordination of all clinical research stakeholders in Malaysia.

To further ensure the safety of subjects in clinical trials, the National Healthy Volunteer Research Registry was launched in 2021 with the aim of preventing over-volunteering for clinical trials among healthy volunteers.

We congratulate the great effort by the Health Ministry and partners in making this a reality, opening the doors of opportunity to address the many unmet needs of our patients and helping to bring positive reform of the healthcare system for the mutual benefit of all.

PROF DATUK DR HANAFIAH HARUNARASHID

Pro Vice Chancellor (KL Campus)

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

PROF DATUK DR A. RAHMAN A. JAMAL

Senior Principal Research Fellow

Medical Molecular Biology Institute

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia