Title of Project
Côte d'Ivoire Ethics Capacity Building Initiative (CECaBI II)

Acronym
CECaBI II project

Start date
1 June 2024

Duration
36 months

Project Summary

Côte d'Ivoire is one of the coastal West African countries with a French-colonial legacy. According to the World Health Organisation. In recent years the government has worked on expanding hospital infrastructure alongside universal access to health care. Greater regulation and integration of private sector players – which serve a large portion of the population – is also a top priority of the government, particularly given continuing gaps in access to health care outside of urban centres. Despite its lower-middle-income status, Côte d'Ivoire's epidemiological profile remains comparable to low-income countries, and health outcomes are among the poorest regionally and globally. Communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in Côte d'Ivoire, representing approximately 58% of the disease burden in 2019, down from 72% in 1990. Infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis impose a significant disadvantage. Côte d'Ivoire has the second-highest HIV prevalence in West Africa, at 2.1%, and there are 16m malaria cases yearly.

Against this background, the need for research, as per the National Plan for Health Development for 1996-2000 remains critical. At present, there is still no clear status for researchers outside the university, and the lack of State funding means continuing uncertainty for research institutions. Although health research ethics and regulation in Côte d'Ivoire remain fragile, underdeveloped and fragmented, the current environment offers a great opportunity to fix the existing gaps. This project, therefore, seeks to address the existing gaps and, through the support of the CECABI II consortium partners, revolutionise Côte d'Ivoire ethics and regulatory ecosystem by undertaking the following objectives:

  • To ensure effective scientific coordination and management of the project through ongoing communication and the dissemination of the project key outputs
  • To build capacity clinical research management/oversight and research ethics for members of research ethics committees and at least 12% of the 1000 researchers who conduct research in cote d’Ivoire:
  • To integrate the AVAREF clinical trials regulatory system with the RHInnO Ethics review platform and institutionalise it for CNESVS and AIRP
  • To develop a quality assurance and management framework to facilitate ISO certification of the Comité National d’Éthique des Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé (CNESVS)
  • To develop a digital framework to integrate the operations, communication, and ongoing cooperation between the NREC, NRA and at least four institutional research ethics committees
  • To develop a monitoring and inspection framework for approved clinical trials in cote d’Ivoire

By undertaking the above objectives, the project is expected to

  • Enhance Côte d'Ivoire’s clinical research management/oversight and research ethics capacity,
  • Domesticate and institutionalise the AVAREF clinical trials inspection guide and tools in Cote d’Ivoire,
  • Develop a quality assurance and management framework to facilitate ISO certification of the nation research ethics committees,
  • Develop a digital framework to integrate the operations, communication, and ongoing cooperation between the CNESVS, AIRP and at least five institutional research ethics committees, and
  • Develop a monitoring and inspection framework for approved clinical trials in cote d’Ivoire.

For more information on this project, contact:

Francis Kombe

CEO EthiXPERT

kombe@ethixpert.org.za

© 2024 EthiXPERT. All rights reserved.