News for Research in developing countries

Submissions to the revision of the Declaration of Helsinki

8 September 2008

The Council has contributed to a series of consultations run by the World Medical Association (WMA), on the revision of the Declaration of Helsinki.

The Declaration of Helsinki is a statement of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, including research on identifiable human material and data.

Follow-up discussion paper on ethics of research in developing countries

18 March 2005

The Council has published a follow-up discussion paper to its 2002 report on the ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries.

The discussion paper explores the practical implications of new and revised guidelines on research from several international organisations. The paper summarises discussions held at a workshop, which the Council co-hosted with the Medical Research Council (MRC) of South Africa, in February 2004 in Cape Town.

The discussion paper covers four topics that the focus of the workshop:

consent

Responses to consultations on healthcare in developing countries

25 August 2004

The Council has highlighted the recommendations of the report 'The ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries' in the following responses to the consultations of other organisations:

2006

Expert Group on Clinical Trials

Expert group launches report on the ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries

Press Release

24 April 2002

Medical research in developing countries that is funded by organisations in wealthy countries is crucial but it must be subject to rigorous ethical safeguards, according to a report published today by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

While acknowledging that some externally-funded research has been controversial in the past, the report, The ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries, highlights the need to continue to support future research, provided it is appropriately planned and effectively reviewed on scientific and ethical grounds.