Prof. George Obeng Adjei Delivers Inaugural Lecture on Clinical Trials in Ghanaian Children

“Clinical trials are defined as research studies in which participants are assigned to one or more interventions to evaluate their effects on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes,” Prof. Obeng Adjei stated.

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Professor George Obeng Adjei, a renowned Professor of Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Ghana Medical School, has delivered a public lecture on the theme “Paradigms and Paradoxes: Enigmas in Clinical Trials in Ghanaian Children.”

As the Director of the Center for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), Prof. Obeng Adjei used the platform to advocate for improved pediatric drug research and efforts to enhance child health outcomes in Ghana.

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With a distinguished career in clinical laboratory and field research, Prof. Obeng Adjei’s expertise spans pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacogenomics, and clinical trials. During his lecture, he shed light on the critical gaps and challenges in conducting clinical trials involving children in Ghana.

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The Importance of Clinical Trials for Children

In his address, Prof. Obeng Adjei emphasized that evidence-based medicine mandates that medicines must be tested and proven safe and effective before being approved for public use. Clinical trials, conducted in three overlapping phases, remain the gold standard for evaluating the safety and efficacy of medicines.

“Clinical trials are defined as research studies in which participants are assigned to one or more interventions to evaluate their effects on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes,” Prof. Obeng Adjei stated. He noted that while medicines for adults undergo rigorous evaluations, many medicines prescribed for children often fall short of such stringent testing.

Historical Exclusion of Children from Clinical Trials

Prof. Obeng Adjei traced the historical exclusion of children from clinical trials to legislation enacted in response to pharmaceutical disasters in the 20th century. Laws such as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938, and the Kefauver-Harris Amendments of 1962 inadvertently discouraged the inclusion of children in clinical trials.

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This exclusion led to a significant gap in understanding how medicines interact with children’s unique physiological and developmental characteristics. “There is still incomplete knowledge of how maturational and developmental changes affect drug metabolism in children. This underscores the need for research on both new and existing medicines,” he noted.

Prof. George Obeng Adjei Delivers Inaugural Lecture on Clinical Trials in Ghanaian Children

Advancing Pediatric Clinical Research in Ghana

Since 2001, Prof. Obeng Adjei has participated in numerous clinical trials involving both children and adults. His pediatric studies include trials of quinine for cerebral malaria and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) for uncomplicated malaria.

His research has attracted funding from prestigious organizations, including the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI-Ghana), the French Expertise International (FEI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA), the Pasteur Institute (France), Sanofi-Aventis Recherche and Development, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Prof. Obeng Adjei called for more collaborative efforts between academia, industry, and healthcare providers to close the knowledge gaps in pediatric pharmacology and ensure that children have access to safe and effective medicines.

By Madjid Diallo || GhanaNewsOnline

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