Public engagement on global health challenges

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Experience with public engagement activities regarding the risks and benefits of science and technology (S&T) is growing, especially in the industrialized world. However, public engagement in the developing world regarding S&T risks and benefits to explore health issues has not been widely explored.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This paper gives an overview about public engagement and related concepts, with a particular focus on challenges and benefits in the developing world. We then describe an Internet-based platform, which seeks to both inform and engage youth and the broader public on global water issues and their health impacts. Finally, we outline a possible course for future action to scale up this and similar online public engagement platforms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The benefits of public engagement include creating an informed citizenry, generating new ideas from the public, increasing the chances of research being adopted, increasing public trust, and answering ethical research questions. Public engagement also fosters global communication, enables shared experiences and methodology, standardizes strategy, and generates global viewpoints. This is especially pertinent to the developing world, as it encourages previously marginalized populations to participate on a global stage. One of the core issues at stake in public engagement is global governance of science and technology. Also, beyond benefiting society at large, public engagement in science offers benefits to the scientific enterprise itself.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Successful public engagement with developing world stakeholders will be a critical part of implementing new services and technologies. Interactive engagement platforms, such as the Internet, have the potential to unite people globally around relevant health issues.</p

Responsible, Inclusive Innovation and the Nano-divide

Policy makers from around the world are trying to emulate successful innovation systems in order to support economic growth. At the same time, innovation governance systems are being put in place to ensure a better integration of stakeholder views into the research and development process. In Europe, one of the most prominent and newly emerging governance frameworks is called Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This article aims to substantiate the following points: (1) The concept of RRI and the concept of justice can be used to derive similar ethical positions on the nano-divide. (2) Given the ambitious policy aims of RRI (e.g. economic competitiveness enhancer), the concept may be better suited to push for ethical outcomes on access to nanotechnology and its products rather than debates based on justice issues alone. It may thus serve as a mediator concept between those who push solely for competitiveness considerations and those who push solely for justice considerations in nano-technology debates. (3) The descriptive, non-normative Systems of Innovation approaches (see below) should be linked into RRI debates to provide more evidence on whether the approach advocated to achieve responsible and ethical governance of research and innovation (R&I) can indeed deliver on competitiveness (in nano-technology and other fields)

Nanomedicine for drug delivery in South Africa: a protocol for systematic review

Background: The emergence of nanomedicine in the past decade has changed the landscape of disease diagnosis and treatment. Nanomedicine makes use of nanostructures for applications in different fields of medicine, including drug delivery, biosensors, neuro-electronic interfaces, in vivo imaging, and cell-specific molecular interactions. Despite its relative infancy, nanomedicine has generated a significant body of research as evidenced by peer reviewed literature and several patents. This proposed systematic review will focus specifically on drug delivery systems in which nanoparticles are used to enhance the pharmacological and therapeutic properties of drugs. The strength of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems is their ability to alter the pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution of drugs. Globally, the discourse on nanomedicine is dominated by research being done in the developed countries of Europe and in the United States of America. Less attention has been given to the applications of nanomedicine in developing countries, particularly Africa. There is dearth of information on the applications of nanomedicine in terms of drug delivery with particular reference to which diseases are being targeted generally in Africa. The review will describe the specific diseases that are being targeted and the progress being made in South Africa, with a view to determining whether the applications of nanomedicine are being appropriated to address the context-specific challenges in this country or if they mimic what is being done globally. Methods: Keywords related to nanomedicine and drug delivery will be combined to build a search strategy for each of the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library (including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register), Google Scholar, NHS Health Technology Assessment Database and Web of Science. We will also check reference lists of included studies for other eligible reports and search unpublished data. To ensure that the search is comprehensive, grey literature will be searched extensively. Literature to be included will have nanomedicine in drug delivery as the primary application and report on the specific diseases that are targeted in South Africa. Two authors will independently screen the search output, select studies and extract data; discrepancies will be resolved by consensus and discussion. When no consensus is reached, the third author will be consulted. Discussion: The systematic review will inform the government, policy-makers, investors, health professionals, scientists, and engineers about the applications of nanomedicine in drug delivery. In particular, it will identify the diseases targeted by the application of nanomedicine for drug delivery and the progress being made in South Africa as the disease burden of this country differs from that of developed countries where nanomedicine has been widely used for drug delivery. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD4201705738

Broadening nanotechnology's impact on development

Discussions about nanotechnology and development focus on applications that directly address the needs of the world’s poor. Nanotechnology can certainly make an impact in the fight against global poverty, but we need to broaden our imagination