IRB: Ethics & Human Research

Applying Ethical Principles to International Community-Based Research: A Case Study from the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS-TB Epidemic (CREATE)

by Nancy E.Kass, Andrea N. DeLuca, LeonieCoetzee, Musonda Simwinga, Gavin J. Churchyard, Helen Ayles, Nulda Beyers, Peter Godfrey-Faussett, Betina Durovni, Richard E. Chaisson, Lois J. EldredPublished Volume: 36 | Issue: 3

This paper describes how one set of HIV-TB prevention research studies put procedures in place to be responsive to these foundational ethical principles when interacting with communities in large population-based, global public health research.

The three principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice were put forward in the 1979 Belmont Report to be the foundational ethical principles by which to guide research with humans. Since this publication, a robust literature on human research ethics has emerged outlining broad ethical duties in research as well as particular research ethics challenges. Only a small proportion of this literature, however, has focused on how commitments of research ethics apply to public health or community-based research, including when public health, community-based studies take place in low- and middle-income countries. This paper describes how one set of HIV-TB prevention research studies put procedures in place to be responsive to these foundational ethical principles when interacting with communities in large population-based, global public health research. Specifically, a consortium of three global HIV-TB prevention research studies becomes an interesting case study of strategies and challenges that can emerge in global community-based public health research trying to fulfill principles of respect, beneficence, and justice at the community level.

Kass NE, DeLuca AN, Coetzee L, Simwinga M, Churchyard GJ, Ayles H, Beyers N, Godfrey-Faussett P, Durovni B, Chaisson RE, Eldred LJ. Applying ethical principles to international community-based research: A case study from the consortium to respond effectively to the AIDS-TB epidemic (CREATE). IRB: Ethics & Human Research 2014;36(3):1-8.