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.
The ENTRENCH Program is a collaborative research ethics training program jointly implemented by the University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Ibadan, Nigeria and the Center for Bioethics and Research that enables continued development of a national research ethics regulatory environment in Nigeria. It mobilizes local and international resources and expertise to provide short, medium and long term trainings in research ethics to health researchers, administrators and members of health research ethics committees and individuals capable of leading research ethics in their institutions. The program supports the Nigerian National Health Research Ethics Committee and increases engagement of Nigerian bioethicists in global bioethics discourse through mentored publications in the BeOnline journal.
| Princewill, Chitu Womehoma; Jegede, Ayodele S; Nordström, Karin et al. (2017) Factors Affecting Women's Autonomous Decision Making In Research Participation Amongst Yoruba Women Of Western Nigeria. Dev World Bioeth 17:40-49 |
