Does Resolution 8430 of 1993 respond to the current needs of ethics in health research with human beings in Colombia?

Verifying the compliance with the ethical principles of health research legitimizes its exercise in the eyes of the society and allows for the resolution of ethical dilemmas that emerge from new research interests and methods. Resolution 8430 of 1993 is one of the main ethical guidelines governing health research on human beings in Colombia. Considering that the resolution has not been revised or updated since its promulgation it becomes necessary to evaluate its current validity and adequacy to address the potential ethical dilemmas in the existing country’s health research.

Elimination of onchocerciasis from Colombia: first proof of concept of river blindness elimination in the world.

Background: Onchocerciasis is a chronic parasitic infection originally endemic in 13 discrete regional foci distributed among six countries of Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela). In Colombia, this disease was discovered in 1965 in the Pacific Coast of the country. The National Onchocerciasis Elimination Program was established in 1993 with the aim of eliminating disease morbidity and infection transmission.

A secondary wave of neutrophil infiltration causes necrosis and ulceration in lesions of experimental American cutaneous leishmaniasis.

We evaluated the importance of neutrophils in the development of chronic lesions caused by L. Viannia spp. using the hamster as experimental model of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL).

Comparative immunohistological analysis of the Montenegro skin test reaction in asymptomatic infection and in acute and chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Introduction: The Montenegro skin test reaction and leishmaniasis lesions share fundamental characteristics of a delayed type hypersensitivity reaction.

Objectives: To determine whether the Montenegro skin test reaction (response to leishmanin) might approximate and thereby provide insight into the early inflammatory and immune response to Leishmania infection.

Materials And Methods: We compared the inflammatory response in biopsies of acute (evolution time < or = one month), and chronic lesions (evolution time > or = 6 months) with the Montenegro skin test reaction in the corresponding patients, and with the Montenegro skin test of asymptomatically infected volunteers.

[Ethics review committees for human research: the challenge of strengthening this process in Colombia].

Introduction: Ethics committees are a necessary resource to guarantee ethical integrity in human research; they must apply international standards in their ethical evaluation of research projects involving human subjects.

Objective: The ethics committees for human research of Colombia were characterized, and recommendations for strengthening them were formulated.

Materials And Methods: In 2003, 280 groups with research projects involving human subjects were selected from a list of research groups which form part of the science and technology network of Colciencias.

Performance of OptiMAL(R) in the diagnosis of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum infections in a malaria referral center in Colombia.

Alternative, non-microscopic methods for the diagnosis of malaria have recently become available. Among these, rapid dipstick methods stand out. One such test, OptiMAL(R), is based on the immunochromatographic detection of Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) and has the capacity to detect and distinguish infections caused by P.

Assessment of therapeutic response of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine in a Malaria transmission free area in Colombia.

In order to determine the frequency of therapeutic failures to chloroquine (CQ) in patients with malaria due to either Plasmodium falciparum or P. vivax, and to explore the usefulness of a malaria-free city as a sentinel site to monitor the emergence of drug resistance, 53 patients (44 infected with P. vivax and 9 with P.