Luchuo Engelbert Bain, Senior Implementation Research Scientist and Deputy Director, MSc in Global Women’s Health. at Nuffield Dept of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, shared LinkedIn:
“Professionalising Community Engagement in African Clinical Trials?
Our new systematic review exposes the precarious state of community engagement in African clinical trials.
Across 30 studies, engagement remains fragmented, underfunded and frequently reduced to recruitment or regulatory compliance.
Dependence on external donors, uncompensated community labour and poorly defined professional pathways undermines sustainability, trust and research sovereignty.
Community engagement must become a core scientific and ethical function, supported by ring-fenced budgets, institutional frameworks and a skilled, recognised workforce.
The scientific currency of trust is at risk, and can – wil be sustained by meaningful community engagement, especially during clinical trials.
Building on this work, we are developing an Africa-focused competency framework for community engagement in clinical trials, alongside tailored training courses.
While numerous courses address community engagement in research generally, few adequately engage with the distinctive ethical, sociocultural, regulatory and operational realities of conducting clinical trials across African settings.
We see this work is critical to Africa’s health sovereignty and security agenda.
We welcome collaboration with communities, researchers, funders, regulators, training institutions and clinical-trial networks committed to professionalising and institutionalising community engagement across the continent.”
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