A framework for the promotion of ethical benefit sharing in health research

There is an increasing recognition of the importance of including benefit sharing in research programmes in order to ensure equitable and just distribution of the benefits arising from research. Whilst there are global efforts to promote benefit sharing when using non-human biological resources, ben...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ global health 2022-02, Vol.7 (2), p.e008096
Main Authors: Bedeker, Anja, Nichols, Michelle, Allie, Taryn, Tamuhla, Tsaone, van Heusden, Peter, Olorunsogbon, Olorunyomi, Tiffin, Nicki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Biomedical Research
Community
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines
Ebola virus
Ethics
Humans
Immunization
Information sharing
Infrastructure
International organizations
Medical ethics
Medical research
Pandemics
Population
Practice
Public health
Researchers
Review boards
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Sustainable development
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There is an increasing recognition of the importance of including benefit sharing in research programmes in order to ensure equitable and just distribution of the benefits arising from research. Whilst there are global efforts to promote benefit sharing when using non-human biological resources, benefit sharing plans and implementation do not yet feature prominently in research programmes, funding applications or requirements by ethics review boards. Whilst many research stakeholders may agree with the concept of benefit sharing, it can be difficult to operationalise benefit sharing within research programmes. We present a framework designed to assist with identifying benefit sharing opportunities in research programmes. The framework has two dimensions: the first represents microlevel, mesolevel and macrolevel stakeholders as defined using a socioecological model; and the second identifies nine different types of benefit sharing that might be achieved during a research programme. We provide an example matrix identifying different types of benefit sharing that might be undertaken during genomics research, and present a case study evaluating benefit sharing in Africa during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This framework, with examples, is intended as a practical tool to assist research stakeholders with identifying opportunities for benefit sharing, and inculcating intentional benefit sharing in their research programmes from inception.
ISSN:2059-7908
2059-7908
DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-008096