A consultation on establishing clinical trial registries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region was held in Cairo, Egypt, from 31 October–1 November, 2011. Participants of the consultation included representatives of national authorities responsible for clinical trial regulation/registration, and academia involved in clinical trial registration and WHO staff.
The objectives of the consultation were to:
- highlight the importance of complying with international requirements for clinical trials transparency by ensuring all trials are registered in a publicly accessible registry;
- highlight the important role registries play in improving the ethical and scientific quality of research conducted in the Region;
- provide information about the relevant international regulations, policies, ethics, statutes and guidelines that govern the conduct of clinical trials;
- provide a platform to discuss implementation options and strategies for the Region to ensure that clinical trials recruiting participants from the Region are adequately registered; and
- share information and discuss the necessary procedures to establish national registries and a regional clinical trial registry platform.