By CHIOMA OBINNA
Members of the newly reconstituted Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Institutional Review Board, IRB, have been urged to abide by the World Health Organisation’s, WHO, recommendations on human subject protection.

Inaugurating the Board in Lagos, Director General, NIMR, Prof Innocent Ujah said the primary responsibility of IRBs is human subject protection, which involves protecting participants’ dignity and rights, facilitating good research, managing conflicts of interest, providing ethics education for self and researchers and ensuring the application of good clinical practice.

He said: “In addition to reviewing research, IRBs should also monitor approved research, because ethical approval alone does not necessarily ensure protection of the safety and welfare of research participants throughout the research, hence the need for approved research to be monitored by IRBs.”

Ujah lamented that the work of IRBs in Africa has been fraught with a number of challenges, adding that the capacity of IRBs in developing countries to review research protocols is often influenced by the complex environment in which they operate.

He said: “It is usually characterised by power inequalities between government, sponsors and researchers and the communities and this has invariably led to compromising IRB independence especially where it is difficult to challenge authority and debate complex issues.”

Other factors that may constraint good ethics review in Africa, include; lack of transparency and conflicts of interest, limited local expertise, technologies and financial resources.

He admonished those conversant with the National Code for Health Research Ethics, NCHRE which had been provided as the national guideline for all ethics Boards and researchers in the country by the National Health Research Ethnics Committee.

Earlier, outgoing Chairman of NIMR-IRB, Prof. Femi Soyinka  represented by the Vice Chairman, Dr. Philip Agomo said during the three- year period, 75 protocols were submitted to the Board for review. Forty three were approved, 15 were voluntarily withdrawn while 14 are still undergoing the review process. He said the remaining three came in for renewal of approval as a result of their delay in the commencement of their previously approved protocols.