Page 26 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 14
P. 26

Wholeness






          In March 2009, Pfizer and Kano       Pfizer contends that there was no regulation or law in Nigeria
          State officials, along with represen-  requiring ethical committee approval before conducting a clini-
          tatives of the children’s families,
          met to confirm an out-of-court        cal trial or investigative study. Therefore, there was no need to
          settlement for US $75 million, with                obtain what the law did not equire.
          a confidentiality agreement. The              From Pfizer’s Defense in Kano State Civil Case
          conclusion of the trial by a settle-
          ment led to compensation for some
          of the families affected, but Pfizer   principles concerning the use of   Although the Nuremberg Code and
          never admitted to wrongdoing, and   human test subjects in experiments,   the Declaration of Helsinki apply
          maintains to this day that the trial   developed after the horrific experi-  in Nigeria, they are “without the
          was proper and life-saving.        ments conducted by doctors of the   benefit of an implementing and
                                             German Third Reich on prisoner     elaborating domestic regulatory
                                             subjects.                          instrument”. He concludes.
          Who Makes a Good Test Subject?
          “Kano was probably chosen because
          of the huge population, high prev-  The Helsinki Declaration of 1964   Doses of Vaccines Destroyed
          alence of meningitis,” Dr. Moham-  similarly requires researchers to put   Many years later, the memory of the
          med of the College of Medicine     the health of human research sub-  Pfizer Trovan drug trial remains and
          at the University of Jos explained,   jects first. Both international stan-  for most of the affected families,
          “and the people’s attitude of always   dards, however, have not seemed to   the COVID-19 vaccine is a reminder
          accepting bad outcomes as the will   prevent pharmaceutical companies   of the lingering doubts over wheth-
          of God, which makes it easier to cut   from engaging in questionable   er big pharmaceutical companies
          corners.”                          practices in Nigeria and Africa more   cast ethical concerns aside in places
                                             widely.                            like Kano. Concerns about vaccine
                                                                                safety may be associated with vac-
          But beyond the religious and cultur-
          al dynamics, he also pointed to the   International legal standards are   cine hesitancy.
          fact that “One hardly ever hears of   only effective insofar as they can be
          malpractice suits in this part of the   enforced, and this often depends on    “I won’t advise, I won’t allow and I
          country [Northern Nigeria]”.       local or domestic authorities.     won’t tolerate seeing my son, myself
                                                                                or any of my relatives to receive
                                             Professor Remigius N. Nwabueze     the COVID-19 vaccine” – Maryam
          In a study entitled “Ethics of Clin-
          ical Trials in Nigeria,” Dr. Patrick I.   of the University of Southhamp-  maintains.
          Okonta of Delta State University,   ton, UK, finds that despite Nigeria’s
          Abraka, Delta, Nigeria, found that   involvement in biomedical research   She vows to discourage anyone she
          developing countries offer con-    since colonial times, Nigeria does   knows from taking the vaccine and
          siderably attractive conditions for   not have any formal framework for   if said persons aren’t aware of the
          companies hoping to minimize the   regulating research involving human   1996 meningitis outbreak and Pfiz-
          price of pharmaceutical trials.    participants.                      er’s Trovan, “I will educate them on
                                                                                that. My son is now living in agony
                                             In his research, he identifies the Na-  despite the so-called compensation”
          The International Ethics of Using
          Humans as Test Subjects            tional Institute of Medical Research   “He is neither in school nor into
          At the College of Medicine, Univer-  in Yaba, Lagos (NIMR) as the     business. He is living a miserable
          sity of Jos, Dr. Sabo Ahmed Mo-    organization authorized to conduct   life,” she added.
          hammed  told Unbias the News that   medical research related to health
          the 1996 trial was in contravention   problems in Nigeria. Though the   Maryam is not alone in her doubts.
          of both local and international eth-  NIMR is a major Nigerian institute   Some Africans are hesitating to get
          ics. “There were unethical practices   concerned with human medicine   COVID-19 vaccines amid concerns
          against the Nuremberg Code, the    and research in Nigeria, it has not   about their safety. From Congo to
          Helsinki Declaration and our [Nige-  promulgated any formal guidelines   Malawi and South Sudan, doses
          ria’s] national laws on bioethics”.    for the conduct of research involv-  of the expired vaccines have been
                                             ing human subjects, he argues.     destroyed, a development that raises
                                                                                concerns for vaccine equity and the
          The Nuremberg Code is a set of


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