Workshop on the Ethics of Clinical Research in Developing Countries
Thu, 17 September 1998
Workshop on the Ethics of Clinical Research in Developing Countries February 22-23 1999
The conduct of clinical research in developing countries has recently stimulated heated debate.
The recent controversy over placebo-controlled clinical trials in HIV infections has focused attention on the fact that guidance on the ethics of research on human subjects does not directly address all the ethical dilemmas raised by UK-funded research in developing countries.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics will hold a two day workshop in February 1999, sponsored by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Wellcome Trust, and the UK Government Department For International Development (DFID). The aim is to contribute to the debate in the UK and elsewhere. The issues to be addressed will include:
- The adequacy of existing guidelines
- The ethics of externally-funded research in developing countries
- The ethical issues highlighted by AIDS vaccine trials
- Non-therapeutic research and informed consent
- What happens once research is completed
About 30 participants will be invited, drawn from developing countries, the UK, Europe and international organisations. A press conference will be held, in London, at the end of the meeting.
For further information please contact:
Dr Sandy Thomas, Director, Nuffield Council on Bioethics
0171 631 0566
Liz Morgan-Lewis/Dawn Duncan, MRC Press Office
0171 637 6017/6011
Catherine Nestor/Noorece Ahmed, Wellcome Trust Press Office
0171 611 8846/8540
Lisa Louis, Information Officer, The Department For International Development
0171 917 0680
NOTE TO EDITORS
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent, non-profit organisation that explores issues in biomedical ethics and is chaired by Professor Ian Kennedy. It is jointly funded by the Medical Research Council, the Nuffield Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. Previous reports have included: Genetic screening ethical issues; Human tissue: ethical and legal issues; Animal-to-Human transplants: the ethics of xenotransplantation. The report on Mental disorders and genetics: the ethical context will be launched on 23 September 1998.
The Medical Research Council, the UK's leading public organisation dedicated to advancing knowledge in all areas of human health, supports research both in the UK and abroad. The total MRC budget for 1997/98 was £323.8 million, of which £22 million was spent on research in developing societies. Accountable to the Department of Trade and Industry's Office of Science and Technology, the MRC is independent in its funding decisions. The MRC was established in 1913, and has since been responsible for many major discoveries in medical science. The Council has an international reputation for scientific excellence and has also been instrumental in establishing high ethical standards in research practice.
The Wellcome Trust is the world's largest charity. In the last financial year (1996-7) it spent some £270 million on medical research annually. The Trust supports more than 3000 researchers, at 300 locations, in 30 different countries laying the foundations for the healthcare advances of the next century and helping to maintain the UK's reputation as one of the world's leading scientific nations. As well as funding major initiatives in the public understanding of science, the Trust is the country's leading supporter of research into the history of medicine.
The Department For International Development is the government department responsible for all aspects of international development policy. Its principal aim is to work towards the elimination of poverty in poorer countries and to enable poor people to achieve sustained improvement in their living standards.
Last Updated Thu, 24 June 2004