On Wednesday 12 May, the Medical Ethics Review Committee (METC) passed a negative judgement on the pilot study for rapid tests. Albeda, Rotterdam University, Erasmus University and Erasmus MC regret this decision, but will of course respect it.
The collaborating educational institutions, represented in the Testing for your Future project team, will lodge an appeal against the decision of the Medical Ethical Testing Committee with the Central Commission for Human Subjects Research. For the time being, therefore, we will not be making any announcements regarding the content of the METC's decision or our objections to it.
Self-tests are already being used in education on a voluntary basis. The national government is also anticipating legislation on the use of test evidence, including in education, if the epidemiological situation so requires in the future. For these reasons, the institutions involved remain convinced of the usefulness and necessity of the study.