It’s my blood : ethical complexities in the use, storage and export of biological samples : perspectives from South African research participants

Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.Please cite as follows :Moodley, K., Sibanda, N., February, K. & Rossouw, T. 2014.“It’s my blood”: ethical complexities in the use, storage and export of biological samples: perspectives from South African research participants. BMC Medical Ethics, 15:4, doi:10.1186/1472-6939-15-4.The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmedethics/Background: The use of biological samples in research raises a number of ethical issues in relation to consent, storage, export, benefit sharing and re-use of samples. Participant perspectives have been explored in North America and Europe, with only a few studies reported in Africa. The amount of research being conducted in Africa is growing exponentially with volumes of biological samples being exported from the African continent. In order to investigate the perspectives of African research participants, we conducted a study at research sites in the Western Cape and Gauteng, South Africa. Methods: Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that captured both quantitative and qualitative information at 6 research sites in South Africa. Interviews were conducted in English and Afrikaans. Data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: Our study indicates that while the majority of participants were supportive of providing samples for research, serious concerns were voiced about future use, benefit sharing and export of samples. While researchers view the provision of biosamples as a donation, participants believe that they still have ownership rights and are therefore in favour of benefit sharing. Almost half of the participants expressed a desire to be re-contacted for consent for future use of their samples. Interesting opinions were expressed with respect to export of samples. Conclusions: Eliciting participant perspectives is an important part of community engagement in research involving biological sample collection, export, storage and future use. A tiered consent process appears to be more acceptable to participants in this study. Eliciting opinions of researchers and research ethics committee (REC) members would contribute multiple perspectives. Further research is required to interrogate the concept of ownership and the consent process in research involving biological samples.Stellenbosch UniversityPublishers' Versio

Zimbabwe (2014): MAP Study Evaluating the Coverage and Quality of Coverage of Protector Plus and CARE condoms in Zimbabwe.

Population Services International Zimbabwe (PSI/Z) uses commercial marketing and distribution strategies to bring health products, services and messages to vulnerable populations in urban and rural Zimbabwe. PSI/Z is implementing a multi-year USAID and DFID funded HIV prevention programs targeting sexually active Zimbabwean men and women ages 15-49 years. This MAP survey (Round 6) was conducted to assess the geographical coverage and quality of coverage of Protector Plus male condoms and CARE female condoms. The study also estimated numeric distribution of Protector Plus condoms. Total Market Approach (TMA) metrics were calculated using estimates of market volume, market value and brand diversity for Condoms in Zimbabwe. Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) technique was used to draw a sample of 19 wards within each supervision area (SA), i.e. a district. A sample size of 19 gives reasonably accurate estimates with an acceptable error margin for decision making. A total of 92 districts and 43 high-risk areas comprising 19 growth points, 19 mining areas and 5 border towns were selected. In cases where a district had fewer than 19 wards, a census of all the wards was done and direct percentage value was calculated to determine whether the SA reaches the target coverage standard or not. Data were collected in September 2014 using Survey ToGo software on android phones. Data cleaning and analysis was done using STATA version 13.0