Fighting COVID-19: Four Indian Hospitals To Take Part In WHO’s Solidarity Trial

New Delhi: Four Covid-19 hospitals in India have received clearance to be part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) clinical trial process to find an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus which has killed over 2.5 million.

WHO has named the programme as ‘Solidarity’, which will see one Covid-19 centre each in Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bhopal take part in the initial phase.

According to Dr Sheela Godbole, Head, Division of Epidemiology, ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute, and National Coordinator of the WHO-India Solidarity Trial, the ICMR plans to include 20-25 clinical trial sites in several states across India.

“These sites are in various stages of being approved. The sites require approval from their institutional ethics committees, and have to be trained and updated with the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI). Some sites are already registered, some are close to registration, and many more are in the process of obtaining approval from their ethics committee,” she told the Indian Express.

The centres cleared so far are AIIMS in Jodhpur, Apollo Hospital in Chennai, B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad and Chirayu Medical College and Hospital in Bhopal.

The Solidarity trial will compare four treatment options against the standard of care to assess their relative effectiveness against COVID-19.

The treatment options that have been selected are Remdesivir; Lopinavir/Ritonavir; Lopinavir/ Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a; and Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine.

“By enrolling patients in multiple countries, the Solidarity trial aims to rapidly discover whether any of the drugs slow disease progression or improve survival. Other drugs can be added based on emerging evidence,” says WHO.

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