ABSTRACT
Background
Medical research involving the use of human participants has been on the increase in Ghana
over the past decade. Research Ethics Committees (RECs) have the huge responsibility of
protecting the safety, rights and welfare of these human participants. This role cannot be taken
lightly since there is always the tendency for these human participants to be exploited, or
vulnerable groups to be taken advantage of. Ghana has about seven RECs in the country right
now. However, very little is known about how or why these Committees came about, their
structure and function, and the challenges they face, and this study set out to find these out. A
survey was also done to find out the opinions of Ghanaian investigators affiliated with the
Ghana Health Service, Navrongo Health Research Center and the Noguchi memorial Institute
for Medical Research, on the RECs they use.
Methods
Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect information on the structure and function of
three RECs in Ghana from their respective Administrators: the Ghana Health Service REC, the
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research Institutional Review Board (NMIMR IRB),
and the Navrongo Health Research Center Institutional Review Board (NHRC IRB). Directors
and their Deputies of the various Institutions were also interviewed on the histories of these
RECs. Two checklists were used, one on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the other
on Minutes, for documented reviews of their operations. Twenty-nine Ghanaian Investigators
were also sampled and interviewed on their views on the RECs they use with the aid of a semistructured questionnaire.
Coalition, C. & WIREKO, N (2021). A Comparative Analysis Of The Development Of Ethics Committees In The University Of Ghana And The Ghana Health Services. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/a-comparative-analysis-of-the-development-of-ethics-committees-in-the-university-of-ghana-and-the-ghana-health-services
Coalition, CDR, and NAANA WIREKO "A Comparative Analysis Of The Development Of Ethics Committees In The University Of Ghana And The Ghana Health Services" Afribary. Afribary, 05 Apr. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/a-comparative-analysis-of-the-development-of-ethics-committees-in-the-university-of-ghana-and-the-ghana-health-services. Accessed 30 Jun. 2022.
Coalition, CDR, and NAANA WIREKO . "A Comparative Analysis Of The Development Of Ethics Committees In The University Of Ghana And The Ghana Health Services". Afribary, Afribary, 05 Apr. 2021. Web. 30 Jun. 2022. < https://afribary.com/works/a-comparative-analysis-of-the-development-of-ethics-committees-in-the-university-of-ghana-and-the-ghana-health-services >.
Coalition, CDR and WIREKO, NAANA . "A Comparative Analysis Of The Development Of Ethics Committees In The University Of Ghana And The Ghana Health Services" Afribary (2021). Accessed June 30, 2022. https://afribary.com/works/a-comparative-analysis-of-the-development-of-ethics-committees-in-the-university-of-ghana-and-the-ghana-health-services