Update: Global ethics

The Sixth Global Forum on Bioethics in Research, organised by the Wellcome Trust and held in Malawi in March 2005, saw constructive debate on the obligations of researchers and sponsors working in developing countries.

The Global Forum on Bioethics in Research is an informal partnership established by a number of organisations with a shared interest in the ethics of research involving people in developing countries.

Representatives from some 40 countries attended the meeting, from as far afield as South America, Australasia, Mongolia and China, as well as Africa and Europe. Delegates represented almost every discipline and group with an interest in this area: biomedical researchers, clinicians, ethicists, lawyers, community representatives and others.

Under discussion was the responsibility different groups might have after a research project has ended. Usually, study populations in underdeveloped countries will have gained benefits during a trial – such as access to medicines or better healthcare. Afterwards, should the body funding the research continue to provide these benefits? If so, for how long? Indefinitely?

While some issues were easy to agree on, for others consensus was hard to find. Nevertheless, informed debate involving such a range of parties, from such different cultures and backgrounds, was fruitful in identifying key issues and moving the field along.

The meeting also coincided with the launch of the Wellcome Trust’s position statement on international research ethics and the publication of a report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (which is part-funded by the Wellcome Trust) on good ethical practice in the developing world.

See also

• Short report on sixth meeting