The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has welcomed a new register for clinical trials in the country for patients to access trails and researchers to recruit people easily.

"Though it is not a new initiative that we have begun with, but this would definitely help boost patient participation in clinical trials", said Sussan Ley, Federal Health Minister after the announcement of a new Australian Clinical Trials website.

There are already numerous other trail registries like the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), was established in the year 2005 with $1.5 million in federal subsidy through a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has enabled the grant.

The new clinical trials website are supported by the NHMRC. There are also various trial registries from the other countries such as Clinical Trials Connect, and some based overseas like US website ClinicalTrails.gov, which has covered various trails in the US. There are other registers, for example Australia Cancer Trails which targets a particular illnesses.

"We admit that this clinical trials may not proceed from the lack of suitable participants. This initiative may have the possibilities to raise awareness and participation, not just for the community members, but also for both the scientific and medical professions as well," said Dr Stephen Parnis, Vice President, AMA in support of this new register.

When questioned about the apparent duplication of the new Clinical Trials website along with the ANZCTR that would make any appreciable difference to the number of people participating in clinical trials in Australia, Dr Parnis said, "There are some rooms for both the registers and often more than one way to access, and people should give it a try to see whether they can complement each other or just ultimately become a single source. It is basically to take but in a right direction."

According to him, number of people researched their conditions and the treatments available online and the Australian Clinical Trials website would be an important resource to give people an idea of their options. "It is now up-to the people whether to depend on the doctors or medical specialists for advice, who would advise them about a particular trail. This would give people opportunity to ask more informative questions", said Dr Parnis.

Mr Paul Grogran, Director, Public Policy at Cancer Council Australia, said "The launch of this new clinical trials website would be welcomed by many cancer patients."