This year’s course has been extraordinary: we had both the FERCAP as a result of the MOU and participants from the ETHIMED project, which is funded through the Norwegian Partnership Program for Global Academic Cooperation (NORPART). The course facilitators were Prof. Rosemarie de La Cruz, Prof. Søren Holm, Dr. Cynthia Wangamati and Ms. Shereen Cox.
This year’s module in International Health Research Ethics and Integrity focused on a cluster of salient topics under five themes: i) Fundamentals in Research Ethics, ii) Challenges in International Health Research iii) post-approval responsibilities, ancillary care obligations & benefit sharing pertaining to scientific research & its applications iv) Research Ethics & sexual diverse persons, traditional medicine & advanced/emerging technologies in biomedical research and v) Research Integrity-the research, the researcher& research environment.
– Training of the Ethics Committee members is important to improve quality of Ethics Committee function. This includes development of standard policies, protocols and guidelines that provide a working framework for the efficient, effective, ethical management of the cases presented to them, says Supatra of FERCAP.
International Basic Clinical Ethics course
The clinical ethics course stems from the ETHIMED project whose objectives include creating a train-the-trainer program on clinical ethics to enable participants to train other persons and develop a manual for clinical ethics committees (CECs) in Tanzania, train health practitioners and faculty members in Rwanda and Tanzania in a moral deliberation model, as well as to establish a clinical ethics committee (CEC) in Tanzania. This course served as a pilot for the training in clinical ethics to be conducted in the month of November 2023 in Mbeya, Tanzania. Participating were ETHIMED core team members, visiting from Tanzania and Rwanda, plus PhD candidates from Ethiopia, on exchange to UIO, within the EXCEL SMART project, which is another of the NORPART projects at our institute as well as PhD fellows from CME.
Topics discussed include general introduction to ethics & clinical ethics; building capacity of clinical ethics (experiences from Ethiopia, Zanzibar & Malawi) Clinical ethics in intercultural context; priority setting in healthcare; end of life & advanced care planning;, Issues related to patient autonomy & shared-decision making; The place of religion in clinical ethics; Clinical ethics support services in healthcare setting; Health care law & clinical ethics, as well as Beginning of life and abortion issues in clinical ethics.
The course organizers and facilitators were Prof. Bert Molewijk, Prof. Trygve Johannes Lereim Sævareid, Ms. Berit Hofset Larsen, Prof. Ingrid Miljeteig, Dr. Carl Tollef Solberg, Assoc Prof. Morten Magelssen, Prof. Per Nortvedt, Dr. Jørgen Dahlberg, Prof. Thor Willy Ruud Hansen, and Mr. Shija Kevin Kuhumba.
– The course is very important in Sub-Saharan context due to increased moral cases in the clinical context. Yet, there are no established clinical ethics support services to assist healthcare professions in addressing them, says Melese of the Excel Smart project.
FERCAP course participants
- Dr. Jeratkana Janngam, MD
- Dr. Kaset Chimplee, MD
- Dr. Nuntiput Putthanachote, PhD
- Mrs. Patcharin Chinnakarnsawas, M.N.S.
- Dr. Polpun Boonmak, MD
- Dr. Sivaporn Sivasinprasasn, PhD
- Dr. Thapanawong Mitsungnern, MD
- Dr. Woranart Ratanakorn, MD
- Dr. Alvin Concha, MD
ETHIMED course participants
- Ms. Shereen Cox Dawkins
- Mr. Shija Kevin Kuhumba
- Dr. Michael Lyakurwa Mrema, PhD
- Mr. Lucas Shija Kitula
- Dr. Marie Francoise Mukanyangezi, PhD
- Mr. Francois Kalisa