In the COVID-19 era, let's keep an eye on clinical trials in Africa

Abstract

Research on human has been a critical pillar for the advancement of medical knowledge including the development of novel vaccines and drugs. Yet the legacy of scientific experiments on human is far to be without controversies. Unethical scientific experiments have been conducted on enslaved persons, World War II prisoners, and even in postwar period where cases of unethical experiments were reported on prisoners, mentally disabled, and ethnic minorities such us the Tuskegee Syphilis study [1] conducted between 1932 and 1972 in the United States. In Africa, suspected unethical clinical trials have been reported. For example, in 2001, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been accused over informed consent issues and unethical trial in Nigeria during the meningitis epidemic in 1996 [2].