Dataset Information

Strengthening ethics committees for health-related research in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Health-related research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has grown over the years. However, concerns have been raised about the state of research ethics committees (RECs). This scoping review examines the literature on RECs for health-related research in SSA and identifies strategies that have been applied to strengthen the RECs. It focuses on three aspects of RECs: regulatory governance and leadership, administrative and financial capacity and technical capacity of members.

Design

A scoping review of published literature, including grey literature, was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute approach.

Data sources

BioOne, CINAHL, Embase (via Ovid), Education Abstracts, Global Health, Google Scholar, Jstor, OpenEdition (French), Philosopher's Index, PsycINFO, PubMed, Science Citation and Expanded Index (Web of Science), reference lists of included studies and specific grey literature sources.

Eligibility criteria

We included empirical studies on RECs for health-related research in SSA, covering topics on REC leadership and governance, administrative and financial capacity and the technical capacity of REC members. We included studies published between 01 January 2000 and 18 February 2022 and written in English, French, Portuguese or Swahili.

Data extraction and synthesis

Two independent reviewers screened the records. Data were extracted by one reviewer and cross-checked by another. Owing to the heterogeneity of included studies, thematic analysis was used.

Results

We included 54 studies. The findings show that most RECs in SSA work under significant administrative and financial constraints, with few opportunities for capacity building for committee members. This has an impact on the quality of reviews and the overall performance of RECs. Although most countries have national governance systems for RECs, they lack regulations on accountability, transparency and monitoring of RECs.

Conclusions

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on RECs for health-related research in SSA and contributes to our understanding of how RECs can be strengthened.

SUBMITTER: Chaudhry I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9680187 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Strengthening ethics committees for health-related research in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

Chaudhry Iqra I Thurtle Val V Foday Edward E Leather Andrew J M AJM Samai Mohamed M Wurie Haja H Parmar Divya D

BMJ open 20221121 11

<h4>Objective</h4>Health-related research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has grown over the years. However, concerns have been raised about the state of research ethics committees (RECs). This scoping review examines the literature on RECs for health-related research in SSA and identifies strategies that have been applied to strengthen the RECs. It focuses on three aspects of RECs: regulatory governance and leadership, administrative and financial capacity and technical capacity of members.<h4>Desi ...[more]

PMID: 36410802

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Dataset Information

Strengthening ethics committees for health-related research in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

Objective

Design

Data sources

Eligibility criteria

Data extraction and synthesis

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Strengthening ethics committees for health-related research in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

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