Biomedical Research in Developing Countries - UNICRI

The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 to promote throughout Europe the
democratic principles stated in the European Convention on Human Rights and in
other important documents on the protection of individuals. It aimed to promote
the development of a European cultural identity and diversity, to find common
solutions for common problems and to encourage and consolidate stability and
democracy in Europe.
Biomedical research is part of those issues, which invest individual rights and poses
many problems at different levels. The role of COE is important in this field, in order
to protect human dignity and fundamental rights, both in the application of
ordinary medicine and new medical techniques.
Particular attention is being paid at the COE to the fulfilment of the requirement of
independent and multidisciplinary review of the ethical acceptability of biomedical
research. This has been done through a more detailed examination of the subject of
ethical review and ethics committees in the Additional Protocol to the Convention
on Human Rights and Biomedicine. This aims to harmonize the principles of ethical
review of research involving human beings in the European Region. The COE is
undertaking a programme of cooperation, started in 1997, with its Member States
in central and eastern Europe, called the Demo Droit Ethical Review of Biomedical
Research Activity (DEBRA). DEBRA consists of multilateral and bilateral meetings,
study visits and informative materials on best practices in Europe.
http://www.coe.int
Council of Europe
COE
Critical Research Ethics Issues in the Era of HIV in Tanzania
The course was sponsored in 2005 by the Fogarty International Center of the US
National Institute of Health, the Dartmouth Medical School, the Boston University
School of Public Health, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences and the
Kilimanjiaro Christian Medical Centre (KMCK).
It is a 2 days training course for Tanzanian health care professionals, researchers
and administrators and anybody who needs ethical training for the design and
implementation of a research project (physician, researchers, clinical officer, research
nurses, ethics review committees members, institutional administrators and
research managers, social and behavioral health professionals, people involved in the
monitoring of research, people teaching research ethics and research methods).
The training includes different issues related to ethics and research: overview of the
development and philosophy of research ethics; case-studies presenting ethical
dilemmas in practical situations; scientific materials for the design of a research
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