Development of a Swiss online training program in research ethics and regulation within the project TRREE for Africa (training and ressources in research ethics evaluation)

Titre du projet

Description

The aim of TRREE-for Africa (www.trree.org) is to develop a training program and resources in research ethics evaluation for all those involved in research involving humans in Africa (e.g. re-searchers, ethics committees, institutions, research participants, policy-makers). While covering the breadth of research with humans, it will focus on issues raised by interna-tional (North–South) collaborative clinical trials conducted in Africa. As everywhere else in the world, training and adequate resources are key to building research ethics evaluation capacity in African countries. This project will thus strengthen and increase protec-tions of the welfare and rights of African citizens who participate in clinical trials. By pro-moting the highest ethical standards during the conduct of research as well as supporting a robust ethics review process, this project will improve the quality of clinical trials conducted in Africa and eventually the treatment of diseases like HIV-AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis that continue to plague the African continent. Concretely, TRREE for Africa will provide training in research ethics evaluation designed specifically to address the ethics of international collaborative clinical trials conducted in Africa that must comply with national standards as well as international ethical stan-dards. TRREE for Africa will offer: 1) a distance learning program (web-based e-training and CD-Rom) in re-search ethics evaluation including international, European and national regula-tions and, 2) a participatory web-site of resources through which it is possible to make research ethics and regulatory resources available (e-resources) from Euro-pean countries as well as from African countries. TRREE for Africa also aims at reinforcing training and resources in research ethics and regulation in developed countries, such as Switzerland. Indeed, the part of this project for which funding has been granted by the SNF will consist in developing a Swiss training module in French, German and English which will serve as a model for other countries (present and future members of the TRREE network) while their national framework takes form and evolves. Most importantly, the impact of the Swiss training module will not be limited to the TRREE for Africa project as the training module will be free and open access for all stakeholders in the research field in Switzerland. The online training module and the e-resources will therefore play a major role in assuring that investigators, sponsors, funding agencies, health authorities, ethics committees’ members have access to the needed, accurate and updated basic information in research ethics and regulation. Switzerland will thus take a lead in improving the quality and ethics standards in North–South clinical research partnerships at the time such research is becoming a worldwide priority in terms of sciences, public health and sustainable development (see 2007 Basle Resolution “Increased Cooperations with Developing Countries in Clini-cal Research”).

Chercheur principal

Sprumont, Dominique

Statut

Completed

Date de début

1 Octobre 2007

Date de fin

30 Juin 2009

Organisations

Institut du droit de la santé

Site web du projet

www.trree.org