Benefit-sharing and Pharmaceutical Development in Africa: What Does Equity Mean?

November 12, 2021 -
12:00pm to 1:00pm

Nchangwi Munung, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
University of Cape Town

Michèle Ramsay, PhD
Professor
University of the Witwatersrand

Moderator: Jantina De Vries, PhD
Associate Professor in Bioethics
​University of Cape Town

Abstract: There is an ongoing concern that collaborative genomic research conducted in lower- and middle-income countries by partners in high-income countries, is not always of benefit to the people who participate in such research. This forum will consider newly emerging approaches to benefit sharing in the context of the collection of African genomic samples by companies based elsewhere. Building on an actual case study of a “contractually committed profit-sharing” approach, this session discusses the meaning of “co-creation,” stewardship, and the role of community engagement. What does fairness and equity mean in commercial collaborations with lower to middle income countries? South African genomics researcher Prof. Michèle Ramsay and Cameroonian bioethicist Dr. Nchangwi Munung discuss the ethics of benefit-sharing in the context of the history of genomics research and colonial history in Africa.

View online here.

ELSI Hub Friday Forum sponsored by NHGRI

Location and Address

Online