Over 1,300 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients have participated in the Solidarity Treatment Trial of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) said Wednesday, March 17.
DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime C. Montoya cited the Philippines’ active participation in ongoing global efforts to halt the pandemic, such as the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Trials for COVID-19 treatments.
"As of January 31, 2021, a total of 1,315 subjects have joined the megatrial in the Philippines, with 730 patients enrolled in public hospitals and 585 in private hospitals,” he said in his welcome remarks during the Council’s 39th founding anniversary celebration
In April 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) announced the country's participation to the WHO Solidarity trial, an international randomized and adaptive clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of four possible therapies in treating COVID-19.
It was on April 17, 2020 that the country’s participation to the trial was approved by the Single Joint Research Ethics Board (SJREB) in support of the COVID-19 global response.
The WHO said more than 100 countries have joined the Solidarity trial with more than 1,200 patients randomized from the first five countries, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of four drugs and drug combinations.