Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa
The provision of gifts and payments for healthy volunteer subjects remains an important topic in global health research ethics. This paper provides empirical insights into theoretical debates by documenting participants' perspectives on an Ebola vaccine trial in West Africa. This trial provided...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2019.1566973 |
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doaj-3fee0ae40cfc403b9be01e3d9f605a642020-11-25T01:31:14ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Bioethics1128-74621591-73982019-01-0130111810.1080/11287462.2019.15669731566973Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West AfricaArsenii Alenichev0Vinh-Kim Nguyen1University of AmsterdamGraduate Institute of International and Development StudiesThe provision of gifts and payments for healthy volunteer subjects remains an important topic in global health research ethics. This paper provides empirical insights into theoretical debates by documenting participants' perspectives on an Ebola vaccine trial in West Africa. This trial provided hundreds of Africans with regular payments, food packages and certificates for participation. The researchers conducting the trials considered these socioeconomic provisions to be gifts in accordance with contemporary ethical standards and principles. Trial participants viewed them differently, however, approaching trial participation as a means for training and employment in what was from their perspective a new job market: the post-Ebola expansion of research and health care systems. This paper analyses participation in contemporary research by viewing the context-specific histories of trial participants through the lens of prior interventions, specifically participatory reintegration programmes conducted in Anglophone West Africa to overcome civil war crises. In particular, we argue that participation in the Ebola vaccine trial was inadvertently shaped by the design and outcomes of past reintegration programmes. Our results highlight the need to investigate existing socioeconomic landscapes which surround and indeed permeate clinical research as a prerequisite for understanding the participatory motives of vulnerable participants in West Africa and elsewhere.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2019.1566973ebolavaccine trialcompensationreintegrationwest africa |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Arsenii Alenichev Vinh-Kim Nguyen |
spellingShingle |
Arsenii Alenichev Vinh-Kim Nguyen Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa Global Bioethics ebola vaccine trial compensation reintegration west africa |
author_facet |
Arsenii Alenichev Vinh-Kim Nguyen |
author_sort |
Arsenii Alenichev |
title |
Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa |
title_short |
Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa |
title_full |
Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa |
title_fullStr |
Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Precarity, clinical labour and graduation from Ebola clinical research in West Africa |
title_sort |
precarity, clinical labour and graduation from ebola clinical research in west africa |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
series |
Global Bioethics |
issn |
1128-7462 1591-7398 |
publishDate |
2019-01-01 |
description |
The provision of gifts and payments for healthy volunteer subjects remains an important topic in global health research ethics. This paper provides empirical insights into theoretical debates by documenting participants' perspectives on an Ebola vaccine trial in West Africa. This trial provided hundreds of Africans with regular payments, food packages and certificates for participation. The researchers conducting the trials considered these socioeconomic provisions to be gifts in accordance with contemporary ethical standards and principles. Trial participants viewed them differently, however, approaching trial participation as a means for training and employment in what was from their perspective a new job market: the post-Ebola expansion of research and health care systems. This paper analyses participation in contemporary research by viewing the context-specific histories of trial participants through the lens of prior interventions, specifically participatory reintegration programmes conducted in Anglophone West Africa to overcome civil war crises. In particular, we argue that participation in the Ebola vaccine trial was inadvertently shaped by the design and outcomes of past reintegration programmes. Our results highlight the need to investigate existing socioeconomic landscapes which surround and indeed permeate clinical research as a prerequisite for understanding the participatory motives of vulnerable participants in West Africa and elsewhere. |
topic |
ebola vaccine trial compensation reintegration west africa |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2019.1566973 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT arseniialenichev precarityclinicallabourandgraduationfromebolaclinicalresearchinwestafrica AT vinhkimnguyen precarityclinicallabourandgraduationfromebolaclinicalresearchinwestafrica |
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1725087832549097472 |