THE Perpetual Succour Hospital Institutional Ethics Review Board (PSH-IERB) has approved the participation of three Cebu hospitals in the International Public Health Emergency Covid Solidarity clinical trial.
These are Perpetual Succour Hospital, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital.
The "Solidarity" trial is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) international randomized clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of four possible therapies in treating Covid-19 in hospitalized patients, compared to standard care.
These therapies are the investigational antiviral Remdesivir, antimalarial drug Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine, antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV Lopinavir with Ritonavir, and Lopinavir with Ritonavir plus Interferon beta-1a.
More than 100 countries have joined the Solidarity trial.
The Department of Health (DOH) had announced the participation of the Philippines in the WHO Solidarity trial, which has been approved by the Single Joint Research Ethics Board (SJREB) on April 17, 2020 in support of the Covid-19 global response.
More than 20 Level 3 hospitals in the Philippines have participated. As there is currently no known treatment yet for Covid-19, there is an urgency to find effective treatment.
The Philippine representatives to the WHO Solidarity clinical trial is led by Dr. Marissa Alejandria of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and president of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, in close collaboration with the DOH and the WHO.
OIC-Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire will serve as the DOH official liaison.
“We are optimistic that this megatrial, with over 90 participating countries, will promote the rapid generation of strong evidence for treating Covid-19, and ultimately stem this pandemic," Vergeire said.
"We share the optimism and efforts of the DOH as we move forward with the Solidarity trial. Let us unite and work together to beat this Covid-19 pandemic," Dr. Ellie May D. Belarmino-Villegas, chairman of PSH-IERB, said. (PR)