COMMENT: "All in this together": the global duty to contribute towards combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

This paper explores the unique realities and effects of Covid-19 as experienced in the global North and global South with special reference to Canada and sub-Saharan Africa; it also examines the moral responsibilities countries have towards their own people and the duty they have to work together to minimise and mitigate the devastating effects of the pandemic worldwide. We illuminate the importance of countries sharing their own world views, strengths, and expertise, and learning from one another in order to better situate all in tackling the pandemic. We argue that it is only insofar as all countries work collaboratively commensurate to each party's capacity to contribute towards the tackling of the Covid-19 pandemic that we may truly be said to be "all in this together".

The Africa Ethics Working Group (AEWG): a model of collaboration for psychiatric genomic research in Africa.

The Africa Ethics Working Group (AEWG) is a South-South-North collaboration of bioethics and mental health researchers from sub-Saharan Africa, working to tackle emerging ethical challenges in global mental health research. Initially formed to provide ethical guidance for a neuro-psychiatric genomics research project, AEWG has evolved to address cross cutting ethical issues in mental health research aimed at addressing equity in North-South collaborations. Global South refers to economically developing countries (sub-Saharan Africa in this context) and Global North to economically developed countries (primarily Europe, UK and North America).

Gambling with COVID-19 Makes More Sense: Ethical and Practical Challenges in COVID-19 Responses in Communalistic Resource-Limited Africa.

Informed by evidence from past studies and experiences with epidemics, an intervention combining quarantine, lockdowns, curfews, social distancing, and washing of hands has been adopted as "international best practice" in COVID-19 response. With massive total lockdowns complemented by electronic surveillance, China successfully controlled the pandemic in country within a few months. But would this work for Africa and other communalistic resource-poor settings where social togetherness translates to effective sharing of basic needs? What ethical and practical challenges would this pose? How would communalism be translated in special contexts to be useful in contributing to the ultimate common good? This paper uses examples from the current situation of COVID-19 in Kenya to address these questions.

The Aristotelian model of friendship and the IU-Kenya Partnership.

Disparity in economic development between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) has necessitated collaborations, some in health-related activities. Globalisation frameworks indicate that, in fair collaborations, the ultimate aim should be to improve the situation in LMICs. In this paper we present the findings of a research study in which we used Aristotle's concept of friendship among unequal parties as an analytic framework to engage with the issue of inequality in an existing international partnership in health, the Indiana University-Kenya Partnership (IU-Kenya Partnership).

Investigating assumptions of vulnerability: A case study of the exclusion of psychiatric inpatients as participants in genetic research in low- and middle-income contexts.

Psychiatric genetic research investigates the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders with the aim of more effectively understanding, treating, or, ultimately, preventing such disorders. Given the challenges of recruiting research participants into such studies, the potential for long-term benefits of such research, and seemingly minimal risk, a strong claim could be made that all non-acute psychiatric inpatients, including forensic and involuntary patients, should be included in such research, provided they have capacity to consent. There are tensions, however, regarding the ethics of recruiting psychiatric inpatients into such studies.

Prioritising African perspectives in psychiatric genomics research: Issues of translation and informed consent.

Psychiatric genomics research with African populations comes with a range of practical challenges around translation of psychiatric genomics research concepts, procedures, and nosology. These challenges raise deep ethical issues particularly around legitimacy of informed consent, a core foundation of research ethics. Through a consideration of the constitutive function of language, the paper problematises like-for-like, designative translations which often involve the 'indigenization' of English terms or use of metaphors which misrepresent the risks and benefits of research.

Faith and healthcare providers' perspectives about enhancing HIV biomedical interventions in Western Kenya.

Adult HIV prevalence in Kenya was 5.9% in 2017. However, in the counties of Kisumu, Siaya, and Homa Bay, HIV prevalence was over 15%.

Acceptability of a Pilot Intervention of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision and HIV Education for Street-Connected Youth in Western Kenya.

Purpose: Street-connected youth (SCY) in Kenya and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of HIV. Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision (VMMC) reduces the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission. Circumcision is also a traditional coming-of-age process in many Kenyan ethnic groups.

An analysis of India's 2017 National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants: The Social and Behavioural Sciences aspect.

In this commentary on Section 9 (Social and Behavioural Sciences Research for Health) of the National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants (2017) by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), we appreciate that the guidelines clarify that human beings are "research participants" and not merely "subjects". Further, we appreciate and commend the ICMR for: i) contextualising the guidelines to India's unique sociocultural and economic situation and ii) affirming the multidisciplinary nature of health research and the wide scope of social and behavioural research. However, we question the prominence given to the difference between biomedical research and other aspects of health research and the description of social and psychological risks and discomforts as minor risks.

Research Ethics Governance in Times of Ebola.

The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ethics review board (ERB) has been solicited in an unprecedented way to provide advice and review research protocols in an 'emergency' mode during the recent Ebola epidemic. Twenty-seven Ebola-related study protocols were reviewed between March 2014 and August 2015, ranging from epidemiological research, to behavioural research, infectivity studies and clinical trials with investigational products at (very) early development stages. This article examines the MSF ERB's experience addressing issues related to both the process of review and substantive ethical issues in this context.

"We Hide Under the Scriptures": Conceptualization of Health Among United Methodist Church Clergy in Kenya.

As community leaders, clergy are well-positioned to impact the health of their congregants. Clergy's conceptualizations of health influence their own self-care and how they minister to others. Interviews and focus group discussions on health conceptualizations and health-seeking behaviors were conducted with 49 United Methodist Church clergy in Western Kenya.

Community perspectives on research consent involving vulnerable children in Western Kenya.

Involving vulnerable pediatric populations in international research requires culturally appropriate ethical protections. We sought to use mabaraza, traditional East African community assemblies, to understand how a community in western Kenya viewed participation of children in health research and informed consent and assent processes. Results from 108 participants revealed generally positive attitudes towards involving vulnerable children in research, largely because they assumed children would directly benefit.

A qualitative study using traditional community assemblies to investigate community perspectives on informed consent and research participation in western Kenya.

Background: International collaborators face challenges in the design and implementation of ethical biomedical research. Evaluating community understanding of research and processes like informed consent may enable researchers to better protect research participants in a particular setting; however, there exist few studies examining community perspectives in health research, particularly in resource-limited settings, or strategies for engaging the community in research processes. Our goal was to inform ethical research practice in a biomedical research setting in western Kenya and similar resource-limited settings.