Vancouver General Hospital. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
Dr. Gavin Stuart: Patients in this province should have opportunities to access innovative therapies closer to home. Families shouldn’t have to assume that leading-edge care is only available elsewhere in Canada or outside the country
For many patients, the future of health care begins with a question: What opportunities are available to me?
That question may come after a diagnosis, when a standard therapy hasn’t worked as hoped, or when a patient and their care team are searching for a treatment that may be more precise or better suited to their condition. Increasingly, one of the most important ways medicine answers that question is through clinical trials.
As demand grows for access to innovative therapies, B.C. has both a responsibility and a strategic imperative to strengthen the clinical trials infrastructure that allows patients to access emerging treatments closer to home.
Global competition for clinical trials, research talent and life sciences investment is increasing rapidly. Jurisdictions that can’t support integrated, efficient and high-quality clinical research environments risk falling behind, limiting both patient access and opportunities to help shape the therapies that may define the future of care.
Clinical trials are sometimes misunderstood as research that happens apart from care or as experimentation pursued only when other options have failed. In reality, clinical trials are one of the ways health care improves for everyone. They help determine whether new therapies are safe, effective and appropriate for patients. They also create opportunities for patients to access emerging therapies while helping improve future care for others.
Put simply, care is research and research is care.
Published in the Vancouver Sun, click here to continue reading the article.
