Strengthening Health systems capacity in Africa for Pandemic Equity and Responsiveness (SHARPER): Why ethics, human rights, and population benefits matter.
1
School of Public Health, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
2
Department of Health Promotion, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
3
Afya aa Haki, Afya na Haki, Kampala, Uganda
4
Tropical Institute of Community Health, TICH, Kisumu, Kenya
5
Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
6
Cameroon Bioethics Initiative, CAMBIN, Yayounde, Cameroon
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Rigorous ethical norms in research are essential to foster accountability, respect, fairness and trust in knowledge production, and are required for evidence-based public health programmes. However, global pandemic preparedness efforts that prioritize technological innovation without careful consideration of ethics, human rights, and socio-cultural factors can reproduce global health inequities, as illustrated with vaccine apartheid during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without foregrounding such considerations, research does not always further justice, equity, or the right to health, particularly for populations in the global south.
METHODS:
The Strengthening Health Systems Capacity in Africa for Pandemic Equity and Responsiveness (SHARPER) project is a six-year multi-country network, involving institutions in Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. Drawing on African philosophical traditions such as Ubuntu/Bihwir and eco-bio-communitarianism, as well as human rights theories, SHARPER will undertake regional analyses of the policy landscape and current and past practices in ethical oversight addressing population benefits; as well as scoping studies to identify strategies to address gaps in research governance for population-level benefit sharing. To ensure leadership and intellectual sustainability, SHARPER is prioritising capacity-building activities for early-career researchers.
RESULTS:
Although many research studies take place in Africa, transparent arrangements to ensure wider population benefits from research are lacking. While some research protocols include post-trial benefits for participants, there is no systematic ethical and/or regulatory oversight that addresses benefits for the broader host population or that incorporates African values related to communitarianism. This means that the right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress contained in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by most African countries, remains out of reach of most African populations.
CONCLUSIONS:
A strengthened research ecosystem in Africa must incorporate African values in its ethical and regulatory environment to emphasise the collective benefits of health technologies.
Rigorous ethical norms in research are essential to foster accountability, respect, fairness and trust in knowledge production, and are required for evidence-based public health programmes. However, global pandemic preparedness efforts that prioritize technological innovation without careful consideration of ethics, human rights, and socio-cultural factors can reproduce global health inequities, as illustrated with vaccine apartheid during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without foregrounding such considerations, research does not always further justice, equity, or the right to health, particularly for populations in the global south.
METHODS:
The Strengthening Health Systems Capacity in Africa for Pandemic Equity and Responsiveness (SHARPER) project is a six-year multi-country network, involving institutions in Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. Drawing on African philosophical traditions such as Ubuntu/Bihwir and eco-bio-communitarianism, as well as human rights theories, SHARPER will undertake regional analyses of the policy landscape and current and past practices in ethical oversight addressing population benefits; as well as scoping studies to identify strategies to address gaps in research governance for population-level benefit sharing. To ensure leadership and intellectual sustainability, SHARPER is prioritising capacity-building activities for early-career researchers.
RESULTS:
Although many research studies take place in Africa, transparent arrangements to ensure wider population benefits from research are lacking. While some research protocols include post-trial benefits for participants, there is no systematic ethical and/or regulatory oversight that addresses benefits for the broader host population or that incorporates African values related to communitarianism. This means that the right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress contained in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by most African countries, remains out of reach of most African populations.
CONCLUSIONS:
A strengthened research ecosystem in Africa must incorporate African values in its ethical and regulatory environment to emphasise the collective benefits of health technologies.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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