|Roundtable proffers ways of respecting the rights of participants in......
The state of clinical trials in developing countries came under
Africa like most developing parts of the world has been the centre
Volunteerism in clinical trials depicts freedom to leave without any
At a media roundtable organized by Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria in collaboration with the Nigeria HIV Vaccine & Microbicides Advocacy Group (NHVMAG),Dr. Morenike Ukpong, NHVMAG Coordinator,Ms. Marrie De Cernival of SIDACTION,France and Mr. Azubuike Nwagbogu of the Clinical Trial Unit the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) bared their minds on various forms of unethical practices with regards to clinical trials.Some of these, according to the speakers, include the poor performance of regulatory bodies tasked with such responsibilities like NAFDAC and the seeming negligence of institutional review boards who are supposed to also monitor trials and other researches being conducted in tertiary institutions across the country. In her presentation, Dr. Ukpong said the freedom to participate in a trial or to opt out of should be part of the fundamental rights of trial participant. She added that participants must also be given full briefing on the trial processes and procedures and comprehension must be assessed before seeking for signing of consent forms.But she lamented that this is oftentimes not so. She tasked the media to be alert and help correct these anomalies. "Just like the media coverage of the court proceedings on the controversies surrounding the Pfizer trials, the media must play its role as an effective watchdog so that government agencies and companies can do what is right." Ms. De Cernival identified poverty in developing countries as a factor that forces participants to remain in trials because they can't afford to pay for such treatments themselves. `In developing countries like Nigeria, participants involved in a clinical trial don't often have the same reasons for participating as that of researchers as many participate primarily because of the free benefits that will accrue to them." This is not the case in developed countries where most trial participants are not interested in free medical care since they can easily access that as provided by the government health plans for citizens.
"In the western world, participants often volunteer for trials
Mr. Nwagbogu of NAFDAC, said the agency is working to ensure that
`Overall, before approving any research whatsoever, we make sure the subject of research is something that is important to the nation, is for the greater good of the society and that the interests and
The NAFDAC officer admitted that some researches still go on in the