Latin America is a highly populated region, and most people, especially in Brazil and Argentina, live in large cities. This is an ideal situation for the implementation of clinical trials, as the dense populations guarantee the availability of patients. In addition, the globalization of the pharma industry and the entrepreneurial spirit of several CROs made Latin America and the Caribbean an important geographical area for the implementation of clinical trials.

But, what about research ethics? The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) devised a strategy that includes objectives and indicators to address core components of research ethics systems. The authors of this manuscript assessed 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean using these indicators. Most countries have adopted legal instruments to govern research with human participants and have implemented national bodies tasked with the oversight of research ethics committees. However, performance regarding ethics training policies and clinical trial registration was less advanced, and efforts to adopt policies on responsible conduct of research and accelerated ethics review of emergency research did not meet the PAHO objectives in most countries. We discuss the pending challenges and provide recommendations aimed at helping countries from Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the indicators.1

The key indicators used in this review were:

  • Indicator 1: ethical standards for research with human participants.
  • Indicator 2: effective mechanisms for the ethics oversight of research.
  • Indicator 3: enhancing ethics capacity among researchers and ethics review committees.
  • Indicator 4: mandatory registration of clinical trials.
  • Indicator 5: policies on responsible conduct of research.
  • Indicator 6: capacity to conduct research in emergencies

You can read the full text here.

References

  1. Aguilera, B., Carracedo, MBE, S., & Saenz, PhD, C. (2022). Research ethics systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systemic assessment using indicators. The Lancet Global Health, 10(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00128-0

Disclaimers

  • The material in these reviews is from various public open access sources, meant for educational and informational purposes only
  • Any personal opinions expressed are those of only the author(s) and are not intended to represent the position of any organization(s)
  • No official support by any organization(s) has been provided or should be inferred