Ebola Vaccine Trials

There is too much that we do not know about COVID-19. The longer we take to find it out, the more lives will be lost. In this paper, we will defend a principle of risk parity: if it is permissible to expose some members of society (e.g. health workers or the economically vulnerable) to a certain level of ex ante risk in order to minimize overall harm from the virus, then it is permissible to expose fully informed volunteers to a comparable level of risk in the context of promising research into the virus. We apply this principle to three examples of risky research: skipping animal trials for promising treatments, human challenge trials to speed up vaccine development, and low-dose controlled infection or “variolation.” We conclude that if volunteers, fully informed about the risks, are willing to help fight the pandemic by aiding promising research, there are strong moral reasons to gratefully accept their help. To refuse it would implicitly subject others to still graver risks.

Section: The Principle Of Risk Paritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemic ethics: the case for risky research

Chappell

Singer

2020

“…This may sound absurd, but it is not surprising, given the continent’s history with clinical trials and research during epidemics. The 21st-century debate of ethics dumping, that is the export of unethical research practices from high-income to lower income settings, is relevant here, as an Ebola vaccine case study has previously shown (Tangwa et al, 2018).…”

Section: Vaccine Trials: Ethics Misinformation and Preparednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Ebola outbreak in West Africa saw an upsurge in health research on the Ebola virus disease. It remains unclear whether the different studies carried out at the time aligned with local needs (Tangwa et al, 2018), but Africa has made major strides in defining its research priorities for COVID-19. For example, the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) hosted a consultative webinar to discuss Africa's COVID-19 priorities and later launched an online survey with the goal of defining Africa's COVID-19 research agenda.…”

Section: Research Priority Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: Africa’s relation with epidemics and some imperative ethics considerations of the moment

Tangwa

Munung

2020

Self Cite

COVID-19 is a very complex pandemic. It has affected individuals, different countries and regions of the world equally in some senses and differently in other senses. While sub-Saharan Africa has weathered a range of outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, the manner in which the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved necessitates some observations, remarks and conclusions from our own situated observation point. Compared to previous epidemics/pandemics, many African countries have displayed a sense of solidarity in the face of COVID-19 that convincingly demonstrates that an Ubuntu ethic is viable and globalizable. The African continent seems, at last, to have realized that ethics dumping must be avoided and has made strides in defining its COVID-19 research agenda and strengthening its epidemic response for both public health and health research. More needs to be done in terms of public engagement, funding and technical support for research on potential therapies/candidate vaccines that are a product of scientific studies on the continent.

“…On the one hand, in resource-poor settings, ‘financial incentives and access to health care are a major driver for enrolment in studies’ (Mduluza et al, 2013; Mfutso-Bengo et al, 2008). On the other hand, preliminary results from a study undertaken in Canada (in relation to an Ebola vaccine) suggest that, in high-income settings, participant motivations include the desire to help develop a new vaccine, and the desire to help others (Tangwa et al, 2018).…”

Section: Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical research in the COVID-19 era demands care, solidarity and trustworthiness

Chatfield¹,

Schroeder²

2020

Self Cite

What can academics do during a lockdown situation to contribute to the fight against COVID-19? They can reflect upon COVID-19 challenges in their areas of expertise and provide suggestions for difficult dilemmas. That is what the 11 authors who contributed to this special issue did. Working to tight deadlines, they drafted manuscripts related to COVID-19 research ethics, responded graciously and with flexibility to the expedited double review and submitted their final versions at double speed. For some this meant late evening work after online meetings on various COVID-19 committees. For others it meant an additional workload in their already full schedules. We are very grateful to each of the 11 authors for their generosity of spirit. We hope that this special issue will be as valuable to readers as it is valuable to us. Compelling messages emerge from this collection about how to ensure that COVID-19 research is ethical. These include the pressing need for care, solidarity and trustworthiness. Care While many have assumed a less active life during lockdown, 30,000 healthy people from 140 countries registered their interest to enrol in vaccine studies within unknown risks (Chappell and Singer, 2020 1). Motivations for taking part in vaccine research vary widely. On the one hand, in resource-poor settings, 'financial incentives and access to health care are a major driver for enrolment in studies' (Mduluza et al., 2013; Mfutso-Bengo et al., 2008). On the other hand, preliminary results from a study undertaken in Canada (in relation to an Ebola vaccine) suggest that, in high-income settings, participant motivations include the desire to help develop a new vaccine, and the desire to help others (Tangwa et al., 2018).