DOHA: To secure the health of people here, the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) plans to establish more facilities for promoting medical research by its staff. Over the last few years, clinical trials and other medical research have increased at HMC, according to an expert.
"We have a strategic plan that is aiming to develop our facilities and manpower at HMC so that we become a recognised centre of research excellence," said Dr Al Hareth Al Khater, Chairman of the Medical Research Center (MRC), which promotes, supports, coordinates and oversees all research conducted in HMC.
"This is a long term plan which involves getting a laboratory or research space at Hamad Medical City and recruiting experts for continuous education and training of the human resource we currently have. The five year strategic plan will be revisited on a regular basis and once started it will have refinements so as to have the best results. We stress on research to ensure highest quality healthcare and hence we are taking feedbacks from the healthcare providers to establish tailor-made research courses," he told The Peninsula.
Many medical and non-medical staff at HMC is now into various researches changing the face of healthcare system here. Last year 270 proposals and scientific papers were submitted by the MRC and about 10 percent of them were clinical trials which look at the medical interventions in patient populations. HMC also had eight awards from Qatar National Research Fund out of 27 proposals submitted.
"The enthusiasm in research is evident by the increasing number of research proposals we get each year. This year, we have submitted 56 proposals for QNRF and we hope that many proposals will be selected this year," he said.
As part of this, HMC recently conducted a workshop on the international standard for clinical trials themed "Creating a Culture of Research" in collaboration with Pfizer, a leading international pharmaceutical company.
"HMC is committed to implementing the strictest standards that will ensure the rights, safety and well-being of people participating in research studies are protected, and that clinical trials conducted within HMC are consistent with the highest ethical and scientific principles of human research," he said.
The course comprised lectures and exercises on evidence-based medicine - the drug development process, aspects of planning and preparation for clinical trials, recruitment and enrolment strategies, in-trial procedures, and safety and quality in clinical trials. HMC provides 90 percent of healthcare in Qatar, placing the organisation in an extremely unique position in regard to the conduct of clinical research.
"Pfizer's partnership with HMC on this programme underscores the necessity and importance of building the potential for clinical research in Qatar. Being able to generate local data is a cornerstone to guide us to the most appropriate decision for each and every patient and can contribute to the setting of local treatment guidelines, thereby providing patients with better healthcare," said Dr Yasser El Dershaby, Medical Director, Pfizer Gulf.
© The Peninsula 2011
