On 11 February 2022, BERC-Luso organised a webinar on “The importance of clinical trials in São Tomé and Príncipe” presented by Dr Jeryson Ramos and Dr Adeonilde Aguiar dos Santos, both members of the BERC-Luso team in this country. This webinar is part of a set of five webinars, one for each of the BERC-Luso partner countries, to prepare for the visit of the project’s coordination team to each of these countries. The first official visit of the BERC-Luso team will take place in São Tomé and Príncipe between 28 February and 4 March 2022.

During the webinar, Dr Jeryson Ramos presented the impact that clinical trials may have in São Tomé and Príncipe in terms of creating clinical infrastructures for this purpose, training health professionals, building institutions and possible financial potential. To date, clinical trials have not yet been conducted in São Tomé and Príncipe, nor is there national legislation on this subject.

Dr Adeonilde Aguiar dos Santos, in the capacity of President of the National Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Health, spoke about the fundamental role of ethics committees at the level of clinical trials. For this national committee, the main focus will be the protection of participants in clinical trials, as well as promoting the guarantee of adequate implementation, scientific and ethical robustness, and quality and integrity of the data generated in a clinical trial.