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Participation in medical research as a resource‐seeking strategy in socio‐economically vulnerable communities: call for research and action
Author(s) -
Ravinetto Raffaella M.,
Afolabi Muhammed O.,
Okebe Joseph,
Van Nuil Jennifer Ilo,
Lutumba Pascal,
Mavoko Hypolite Muhindo,
Nahum Alain,
Tinto Halidou,
Addissie Adamu,
D'Alessandro Umberto,
Grietens Koen Peeters
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.12396
Subject(s) - call to action , resource (disambiguation) , action (physics) , community participation , action research , business , political science , public relations , environmental resource management , economic growth , medicine , sociology , socioeconomics , marketing , computer science , economics , computer network , pedagogy , physics , quantum mechanics
Abstract The freedom to consent to participate in medical research is a complex subject, particularly in socio‐economically vulnerable communities, where numerous factors may limit the efficacy of the informed consent process. Informal consultation among members of the Switching the Poles Clinical Research Network coming from various sub‐Saharan African countries, that is Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Benin, seems to support the hypothesis that in socio‐economical vulnerable communities with inadequate access to health care, the decision to participate in research is often taken irrespectively of the contents of the informed consent interview, and it is largely driven by the opportunity to access free or better quality care and other indirect benefits. Populations' vulnerability due to poverty and/or social exclusion should obviously not lead to exclusion from medical research, which is most often crucially needed to address their health problems. Nonetheless, to reduce the possibility of exploitation, there is the need to further investigate the complex links between socio‐economical vulnerability, access to health care and individual freedom to decide on participation in medical research. This needs bringing together clinical researchers, social scientists and bioethicists in transdisciplinary collaborative research efforts that require the collective input from researchers, research sponsors and funders.