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Chapter 26 - Giving Voice to African Thought in Medical Research Ethics

from Section 5 - The Importance of Including Cross-Cultural Perspectives and the Need for Dialogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2021

Solomon Benatar
Affiliation:
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Cape Town
Gillian Brock
Affiliation:
Professor of Philosophy, University of Auckland
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Summary

In this chapter, I consider the virtual absence of an African voice and perspective in global discourses of medical research ethics against the backdrop of the high burden of diseases and epidemics on the continent and the fact that the continent is actually the scene of numerous and sundry medical research studies. I consider some reasons for this state of affairs as well as how the situation might be redressed. Using examples from the HIV/AIDS and Ebola epidemics, I attempt to show that the marginalization of Africa in medical research and medical research ethics is deliberate rather than accidental. It is causally related, in general terms, to a Eurocentric hegemony derived from colonialism and colonial indoctrination cum proselytization. I end by proposing seven theses for the critical reflection and appraisal of the reader.

Type
Chapter
Information
Global Health
Ethical Challenges
, pp. 339 - 344
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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