Felicitas Sofia Holzer Phd student - Sorbonne University, CONICET Argentina |
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02.08.2018-29.08.2018
Addressing host countries and communities fairly in international health research
The fundamental question of the thesis project is: What do researchers and sponsors owe to host communities and countries and why? The thesis’ general objective is to answer the question according to the following scheme:
What (X) does A owe B for doing international clinical research (Z) and why (Y)?
X: object(s) of requirement
A: obligor, debtor (multiple-agent network hypothesis)
B: obligee, creditor (multiple-agent network hypothesis)
Y: justification
Z: type of interactionSpecifying the fundamental question:
- What do researchers and sponsors owe to the populations of host countries and communities when doing clinical research for reasons of international justice?
- What do researchers and sponsors owe to host countries and communities in terms of justice (perfect duties) versus beneficence requirements (imperfect duties) (Gilabert 2016)?
- Who are the duty bearers of imperfect or perfect duties in international health research?
- What are possible ethical justifications for imperfect or perfect duties of justice and fair cooperation in international health research?
- What are the possible ethical justifications for the assignment of specific ethical obligations to researchers and sponsors?Furthermore, one of the specific aims is a comprehensive literature review on the most common theories of justice or fairness in international health research, such as the 'fair benefits approach' and cosmopolitan theories. This includes an outline of common practices in international health research, as well as their importance and relevance to justice and fairness concerns. Also, the project should document current research guidelines that make recommendations of how to assign duties of fairness and justice to international agents.