Brussels, Belgium 30-31st March 2004
Global Oversight of Research

Dr James Appleyard
President of the World Medical Association

Chairperson
International Approaches

We all have a responsibilities in the fight against the new pestilences that threaten the vulnerable complex economic strictures of the more affluent societies and the old diseases that are destroying the economies of the poorer nations.

We need to follow the example of patient groups ably represented at this conference by the European. Platform for Patient Organisations, Science and Industry. Patients with life threatening illnesses and those who have to carry the expensive burden of chronic disease are actively raising money for and offering to participate in vital medical research Patients must not be abandoned to struggle alone. Those, particularly children who are our future, must be supported. We need to call up all our effort to rescue reliable research initiatives and promote a team approach each member of which .is a partner with their individual responsibilities.

We must restore the trust in clinical research - trust that has been so painstakingly built up over the years by the medical profession; trust that depends on patients relying on doctors to put their interest first; trust that risks are addressed and reduced to a minimum; trust that the strict safeguards in the principles, developed with the help of patients groups in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Those who abuse this trust, those who are proven to have flouted those principles designed to protect the vulnerable, have no place in our profession. To deceive and promote doubt about essential preventive measures, create unnecessary uncertainty, and despair destroys our defenses against diseases that cause death and disability in the developing world

We will be strengthened by joining with partners from academia, industry and governments to protect patients and the quality of data held about them European Governments need to invest more in medical research and education which are the lifeblood of academic medicine and future innovation. In turn we need to reach out to academic institutions in the developing world and develop strong and long lasting links for medical research and education. We must support innovative and curiosity driven research through the voluntary non governmental organizations as well as the painstaking routine of pharmaceutical research. We will be able to achieve much more for the health of all if both adults and children participated in these important research initiatives- subject of course to the essential safeguards.

While the European Legislation on medicines for children lumbers on its cumbersome journey, the challenges that face us and our children can be met through our resource and resourcefulness. It is our duty to humanity and to our future.

James Appleyard
31st March 2004