Entrenching Training and Capacity in Research Ethics in Nigeria (ENTRENCH) Program

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Project summary The creation of a health research ethics regulatory environment is an important step in entrenching sustainable ethical oversight in any country. In that regard, since 2004, we have been involved in the establishment of a National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC); established or strengthened 35 institutional health research ethics committees, implemented over 20,000 online courses, conducted 82 onsite courses for research ethicists, biomedical researchers and members of ethics committees and admitted 43 Master’s degree in Bioethics students into our training programs. We have therefore made substantial contributions to the development of research ethics in Nigeria. Nevertheless, there are more opportunities to further strengthen this system by increasing knowledge and compliance with research ethics guidelines, standard operating procedures and best practices ethical oversight of research; training more research ethicists at every level so that there are enough for a large country like Nigeria with population of 180 million people with growing number and complexity of research projects. The Entrenching Training and Capacity in Research Ethics in Nigeria (ENTRENCH) Program therefore plans to continue training Masters degrees students at the University of Ibadan; conduct curriculum revisions and initiate new degree programs at Olabisi Onabanjo University, University of Nigeria and University of Ilorin in Nigeria; provide blended advanced diploma in research ethics training and enhance the engagement of Nigerian bioethicists with the public and the global bioethics discourse.