Abstract:
MULTINATIONAL COLLABORATORS IN health
research face particular ethical challenges when conducting
studies involving vulnerable populations such as
children. We use an example from our first attempt to
implement pediatric assent in the context of a longstanding
research and clinical partnership between
Kenyan and American medical schools to highlight the
ethical and procedural issues related to pediatric assent
that must be considered for multinational, pediatric
studies. We consider relevant domestic, professional,
and international guidelines for assent in pediatric
research subjects, and we discuss the particular ethical
challenges related to pediatric assent in the Kenyan context.
Finally, we propose a way forward for approaching
pediatric assent within our collaborative research program
in Kenya that may apply to other multinational
research partnerships
