Health Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy

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dc.contributor.authorMoodley, Keymanthrien_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMyer, Landonen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-28T07:01:18Z
dc.date.available2015-10-28T07:01:18Z
dc.date.issued2007en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Despite the growth of biomedical research in South Africa, there are few insights into the operation of Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in this setting. We investigated the composition, operations and training needs of health RECs in South Africa against the backdrop of national and international guidelines. METHODS: The 12 major health RECs in South Africa were surveyed using semi-structured questionnaires that investigated the composition and functions of each REC as well as the operational issues facing committees. RESULTS: Health RECs in SA have an average of 16 members and REC members are predominantly male and white. Overall, there was a large discrepancy in findings between under-resourced RECs and well resourced RECs. The majority of members (56%) are scientists or clinicians who are typically affiliated to the same institution as the health REC. Community representatives account for only 8% of membership. Training needs for health REC members varied widely. CONCLUSION: Most major health RECs in South Africa are well organized given the resource constraints that exist in relation to research ethics in developing countries. However, the gender, racial and occupational diversity of most of these RECs is suboptimal, and most RECs are not constituted in accordance with South African guidelines. Variability in the operations and training needs of RECs is a reflection of apartheid-entrenched influences in tertiary education in SA. While legislation now exists to enforce standardization of research ethics review systems, no provision has been made for resources or capacity development, especially to support historically-disadvantaged institutions. Perpetuation of this legacy of apartheid represents a violation of the principles of justice and equity.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMoodley, K., & Myer, L. (2007). Health Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy. <i>BMC Medical Ethics</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14457en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMoodley, Keymanthri, and Landon Myer "Health Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy." <i>BMC Medical Ethics</i> (2007) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14457en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMoodley, K., & Myer, L. (2007). Health research ethics committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy. BMC Medical Ethics, 8(1), 1.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Moodley, Keymanthri AU - Myer, Landon AB - BACKGROUND: Despite the growth of biomedical research in South Africa, there are few insights into the operation of Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in this setting. We investigated the composition, operations and training needs of health RECs in South Africa against the backdrop of national and international guidelines. METHODS: The 12 major health RECs in South Africa were surveyed using semi-structured questionnaires that investigated the composition and functions of each REC as well as the operational issues facing committees. RESULTS: Health RECs in SA have an average of 16 members and REC members are predominantly male and white. Overall, there was a large discrepancy in findings between under-resourced RECs and well resourced RECs. The majority of members (56%) are scientists or clinicians who are typically affiliated to the same institution as the health REC. Community representatives account for only 8% of membership. Training needs for health REC members varied widely. CONCLUSION: Most major health RECs in South Africa are well organized given the resource constraints that exist in relation to research ethics in developing countries. However, the gender, racial and occupational diversity of most of these RECs is suboptimal, and most RECs are not constituted in accordance with South African guidelines. Variability in the operations and training needs of RECs is a reflection of apartheid-entrenched influences in tertiary education in SA. While legislation now exists to enforce standardization of research ethics review systems, no provision has been made for resources or capacity development, especially to support historically-disadvantaged institutions. Perpetuation of this legacy of apartheid represents a violation of the principles of justice and equity. DA - 2007 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1472-6939-8-1 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Medical Ethics LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2007 T1 - Health Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy TI - Health Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14457 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14457
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6939-8-1
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMoodley K, Myer L. Health Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracy. BMC Medical Ethics. 2007; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14457.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltden_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentInstitute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2007 Moodley and Myer; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceBMC Medical Ethicsen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmedethics/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherMedical Ethicsen_ZA
dc.titleHealth Research Ethics Committees in South Africa 12 years into democracyen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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