The Supreme Council for the Review of Clinical Medical Research Ethics, affiliated with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, held the first meeting of the advisory committee concerned with formulating standards for standard models for research, in the presence of Dr. Sherif Wadie, Chairman of the Council, and Dr. Tamer Hafnawi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council, with the aim of proposing unified regulatory formulations for models related to the conduct of clinical medical research, in a way that ensures achieving legal and scientific consistency and protecting the rights of participants in research studies.
During the meeting, Dr. Sherif Wadie, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Review of Clinical Medical Research Ethics, explained that the Council decided to form this committee, which includes an elite group of experts representing institutional research ethics committees nationwide, noting that the proposed standards contribute to strengthening the principles of good governance, transparency, and ethical commitment, in addition to facilitating regulatory procedures and raising the efficiency of the research environment in Egypt.
Wadih stressed that the Council, in cooperation with all concerned parties, adopts this effort as a pivotal step towards aligning national research practices with international standards, and supporting the confidence of research institutions and regulatory bodies, as well as local and international partners, in the Egyptian clinical medical research system.
Clinical research ethics review
For his part, Dr. Tamer Hafnawi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Review of Clinical Medical Research Ethics, pointed out the importance of preparing these standards and standard models, as a direct response to the outcomes of the symposium organized by the Council last month.
The committee meeting was chaired by Dr. Azza Saleh, professor at the Theodor Bilharz Institute and member of the Supreme Council, representing the research institutes, in the presence of the committee members and representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council.
This committee is the fifth committee formed by the Council, after: the International Cooperation Committee headed by Dr. Maha Rabat, the Committee for Preparing and Reviewing Standards, Controls and Regulations for Research Ethics headed by Dr. Ahmed Shuqair, the Central Laboratories and Advanced Biomedical Technologies Committee headed by Major General Dr. Tariq Al-Najdi, and the Artificial Intelligence Technologies Committee headed by Dr. Wafa Abdel-Al. This comes in accordance with the Egyptian Clinical Medical Research Regulation Law No. (214) of 2020, with the aim of implementing what was stated. By law, and supporting the inherent powers of the Council in issuing regulations, controls and standards, after the approval of the Supreme Council, in order to achieve governance of the research system and control its performance in accordance with the approved requirements and considerations.
