New Delhi. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has prepared new guidelines regarding medical research. Under this, now even small hospitals will be able to become part of a bigger study. According to ICMR, arrangements for single ethics review have been made for simultaneous medical studies in many hospitals and research centres.
Meaning, if the same research is being done in 10 or 20 hospitals, then the Ethics Committee of each hospital will not need to examine the entire research separately. A designated Ethics Committee will be able to examine and approve the entire study. Small hospitals, centers in rural areas and research centers with less facilities can get the biggest benefit from this change.
Centers which do not have their own ethics committee will also be able to be a part of major medical research. Getting approval from a committee does not mean that the responsibility for patient safety will go away.
During research, it will be important to keep an eye on the safety of patients, give information about serious incidents and follow the rules of research. If there is any major change in the research or any problem related to patient safety comes to light, then its information will also have to be given as per the prescribed procedure. This means that research approval can be obtained from one place, but the responsibility for the safety of patients will rest with all the hospitals concerned.
Only one Ethics Committee will approve the research conducted in several hospitals.
Due to the involvement of a large number of patients, the effect of this new system of ICMR will not be limited only to the approval of research. If small hospitals and centers around villages join a big medical study, then patients from different areas will be able to participate in the research. With this, it will be easier to include people from different parts of the country instead of only patients from big cities in the study on any disease, new medicine or treatment method.