This lack of adequate resources for research ethics, coupled with the increasing volume of health research in Sub-Saharan Africa, was thought to be contributing to increased vulnerability to exploitative research ( Angell, 1997 Benatar, 2002 Isaakidis et al., 2002 Rugemalila & Kilama, 2001 Singer & Benatar, 2001).
These realities were confirmed by other authors who also reported the nonexistence of RECs in some countries and institutions, under resourcing of RECs, and lack of formal research ethics training among REC members as well as the fact that only a handful of trained bioethicists worked in the region ( Milford, Wassenaar, & Slack, 2006 Nyika et al., 2009). Reports by country representatives revealed several problems with the review and monitoring of research including inadequately functioning research ethics committees (RECs), lack of resources, limited or outdated legislation, overworked research ethics committee members, low levels of awareness of research ethics guidelines, and lack of personnel trained in bioethics and research ethics ( Rugemalila & Kilama, 2001). In November 1999, the African Malaria Vaccine Testing Network (AMANET) sponsored a seminar on health research ethics in Africa in Arusha, Tanzania, to identify the needs, priorities, structures, and processes for research ethics review and monitoring of research in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
This paper is part of a collection of papers analyzing the Fogarty International Center’s International Research Ethics Education and Curriculum Development program. Nevertheless, the increasing amount and complexity of health research being conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa suggests the need for continued investment in research ethics capacity development in this region. Our report showcases the development of awareness of research ethics and building/strengthening of basic research ethics infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Training programs adapted to challenges that arose due to varied trainees’ background knowledge in ethics, duration of time available for training, spoken and written English language skills, administrative obstacles, and the need to sustain post-training research ethics activities. Trainees’ leadership resulted in new national systems and policies on research ethics, human tissue storage and export, and methods of monitoring compliance with research ethics guidelines. Together, these programs provided long-term training in research ethics to 275 African professionals, strengthened research ethics committees in 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and created research ethics curricula at many institutions and bioethics centers within Africa. We collected data from grants awards’ documents and annual reports supplemented by questionnaires completed by the training program directors. We examine nine research ethics training programs that are focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and supported by the US National Institutes of Health. The last fifteen years have witnessed a significant increase in investment in research ethics capacity development throughout the world.