Engaging diverse communities participating in clinical trials: case examples from across Africa

Malaria Journal

Case Study

Wen L Kilama¹  Aceme Nyika¹  Alfred B Tiono²  Sodiomon B Sirima²  Sally Mtenga³  Roma Chilengi⁴  Mahamadou S Sissoko⁵  Ogobara Doumbo⁵  Mahamadou A Thera⁵  John Lusingu⁶  Deus Ishengoma⁶  Martha Lemnge⁶ 

[1] African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET), P. O. Box 33207, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme (CNRFP), 01 BP 2208, Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso;Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), P. O. Box 78373, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi District Hospital Grounds, P.O. Box 230, Kilifi, Kenya;Malaria Research and Training Centre (MRTC), University of Bamako, PB 1805, Mali;National Institute for Medical Research, Tanga Medical Research Centre, P.O Box 5004, Tanga, Tanzania;

关键词: Community Engagement;    Malaria Vaccine;    Community Advisory Board;    Merozoite Surface Protein;    Demographic Surveillance System;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-9-86

 received in 2009-11-11, accepted in 2010-03-26,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn the advent of increasing international collaborative research involving participants drawn from populations with diverse cultural backgrounds, community engagement becomes very critical for the smooth conduction of the research. The African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET) is a pan-African non-governmental organization that sponsors and technically supports malaria vaccine trials in various African countries.Case descriptionAMANET sponsored phase Ib or IIb clinical trials of several malaria vaccine candidates in various Africa countries. In Burkina Faso, Mali and Tanzania trials of the merozoite surface protein 3 -- in its Long Synthetic Peptide configuration (MSP3 LSP) -- were conducted. In Mali, the apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) was tested, while a hybrid of glutamate rich protein (GLURP) and MSP3 (GMZ2) was tested in Gabon. AMANET recognizes the importance of engaging with the communities from which trial participants are drawn, hence community engagement was given priority in all project activities conducted in the various countries.Discussion and evaluationExisting local social systems were used to engage the communities from which clinical trial participants were drawn. This article focuses on community engagement activities employed at various AMANET-supported clinical trial sites in different countries, highlighting subtle differences in the approaches used. The paper also gives some general pros and cons of community engagement.ConclusionsCommunity engagement enables two-way sharing of accurate information and ideas between researchers and researched communities, which helps to create an environment conducive to smooth research activities with enhanced sense of research ownership by the communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Nyika et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010