|
|
News...
InFACT Global Website Launches
The possibility of developing more formal collaborations between
investigator-led clinical trials groups in critical care was
first explored
during the WFSICCM meeting in Buenos Aires in 2005. In 2008, a
meeting sponsored by the International Sepsis Forum, and held in Granada
Spain brought
together people from such clinical trials groups from around the
world, and it
was agreed to launch a formal collaboration under the name of
InFACT
(International Forum for Acute Care Trialists). Ongoing
discussions have been
held subsequently, with a plan to formally launch InFACT in
Brussels at the
March ISICEM meeting.
In the interim, the specter of the impending
new H1N1
pandemic led to a decision to proceed with a collaborative
response in advance
of the formal InFACT launch. Approximately 30 individuals from
around the
world participated in a conference call that launched the
initiative, and
established working groups in key areas – development of a
common database to
support an international registry, design of one or more RCTs,
selection of
agents for study in such trials, ethics and consent during a
pandemic, and
establishment of a common biobank.
The Significance Foundation
in the United
States has provided financial and IT support to develop
a website to
support the initiative. The web site is now launched and connects
to 5 ongoing
new H1N1 registries
WWW.InFACTglobal.org
The WHO predicts that as many as 2 billion
people may become
infected with the new H1N1 virus, a figure that translates into
a need for ICU
care for between 10 and 100 million people over the next two
years. Whether
this dire scenario will be realized is unknown, however the
community believes
that we must take the necessary steps to be prepared for this
possibility, and
in particular, to ensure that research to optimize the care of
infected
patients proceeds under what are likely to be very trying conditions.
We encourage physicians to join in this effort by
submitting data on the new H1N1 pandemic.
This page last updated
07/13/2010
|
