Resources

Popular concerns about medical research projects in sub-Saharan Africa – a critical voice in debates about medical research ethics

This resource aims to move beyond the dismissal of stories about blood-stealing and trade in body parts as ‘mere’ rumour, based on erroneous belief or traditional superstition, and to instead appreciate them as modern commentaries on social relations that involve, and extend far beyond, scientific medical research.

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'Transport to where?': Reflections on the problem of value and time à propos an awkward practice in medical research

This resource examines the gap between the bioethics aversion to value transfers in clinical trials, and research participants' and researchers' expectations of these. It focuses upon so-called 'transport reimbursement' (TR): monetary payments to participants that are framed as mere refund of transport expenses, but which are of considerable value to recipients.

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Ethics and the ethnography of medical research in Africa

This resource outlines two emerging approaches to medical ethics, and summarises each of seven papers selected from the conference for inclusion in this special issue on ethics and ethnography, and finally highlights two areas of lively debate at the conference itself: the appropriateness and value of ethics guidelines and review boards for medical research; and the ethical review of social science research.

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