The Ethics of Ethics Reviews in Global Health Research: Case Studies Applying a New Paradigm

With increasing calls for global health research there is growing concern regarding the ethical challenges encountered by researchers from high-income countries (HICs) working in low or middle-income countries (LMICs). There is a dearth of literature on how to address these challenges in practice. In this article, we conduct a critical analysis of three case studies of research conducted in LMICs.We apply emerging ethical guidelines and principles specific to global health research and offer practical strategies that researchers ought to consider. We present case studies in which Canadian health professional students conducted a health promotion project in a community in Honduras; a research capacity-building program in South Africa, in which Canadian students also worked alongside LMIC partners; and a community-university partnered research capacity-building program in which Ecuadorean graduate students, some working alongside Canadian students, conducted community-based health research projects in Ecuadorean communities.We examine each case, identifying ethical issues that emerged and how new ethical paradigms being promoted could be concretely applied.We conclude that research ethics boards should focus not only on protecting individual integrity and human dignity in health studies but also on beneficence and non-maleficence at the community level, explicitly considering social justice issues and local capacity-building imperatives.We conclude that researchers from HICs interested in global health research must work with LMIC partners to implement collaborative processes for assuring ethical research that respects local knowledge, cultural factors, the social determination of health, community participation and partnership, and making social accountability a paramount concern.

The Ethics of Ethics Reviews in Global Health Research: Case Studies Applying a New Paradigm

With increasing calls for global health research there is growing concern regarding the ethical challenges encountered by researchers from high-income countries (HICs) working in low or middle-income countries (LMICs). There is a dearth of literature on how to address these challenges in practice. In this article, we conduct a critical analysis of three case studies of research conducted in LMICs.We apply emerging ethical guidelines and principles specific to global health research and offer practical strategies that researchers ought to consider. We present case studies in which Canadian health professional students conducted a health promotion project in a community in Honduras; a research capacity-building program in South Africa, in which Canadian students also worked alongside LMIC partners; and a community-university partnered research capacity-building program in which Ecuadorean graduate students, some working alongside Canadian students, conducted community-based health research projects in Ecuadorean communities.We examine each case, identifying ethical issues that emerged and how new ethical paradigms being promoted could be concretely applied.We conclude that research ethics boards should focus not only on protecting individual integrity and human dignity in health studies but also on beneficence and non-maleficence at the community level, explicitly considering social justice issues and local capacity-building imperatives.We conclude that researchers from HICs interested in global health research must work with LMIC partners to implement collaborative processes for assuring ethical research that respects local knowledge, cultural factors, the social determination of health, community participation and partnership, and making social accountability a paramount concern.

Trabajo infantil y educación en el primer Código de Menores en el Ecuador, 1900-1940 (Estudios)

El artículo estudia los antecedentes de la creación de políticas públicas sobre la niñez en el Ecuador a inicios del siglo XX. Se analizan la relación entre el trabajo infantil y la educación, los conceptos tradicionales y precapitalistas con los que se articuló el Código de la Niñez de 1938, el papel de los gremios y sociedades de artesanos en relación con el trabajo infantil y el aprendizaje de los oficios como aspectos elementales en la incorporación de la niñez al trabajo y el mundo obrero.

El derecho a la tutela judicial efectiva: una aproximación a su aplicación por los tribunales ecuatorianos (Tema Central)

Este artículo analiza la concepción del derecho a la tutela judicial efectiva como derecho fundamental, para lo cual parte de sus notas configuradoras básicas. Al efecto, se estudian sus implicaciones desde el ámbito constitucional y del Código Orgánico de la Función Judicial, como sus líneas directrices en la doctrina y en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional español (órgano que ha estudiado ampliamente el tema), para luego determinar cómo se ha considerado el ámbito del derecho por los tribunales ecuatorianos.

Las disposiciones legales que desarrollan los preceptos constitucionales sobre la inversión privada extranjera en el Ecuador (Tema Central)

El presente artículo presenta un análisis del régimen vigente en materia de la inversión privada extranjera, partiendo de las disposiciones pertinentes incorporadas en el código orgánico de la Producción, comercio e Inversiones (dic. 2010), cotejando las mismas frente a los preceptos establecidos por la constitución de la República del Ecuador relativos al sistema económico y otros ámbitos pertinentes. La evaluación se complementa contrastando las disposiciones legales de reciente vigencia, a los criterios de consistencia de los correspondientes lineamientos del esquema de planificación gubernamental y a varios principios del sistema de reglas internacionales sobre la inversión. Se aportan, finalmente, conclusiones sobre probables líneas de ajuste normativo futuras, resultantes de dicho proceso de comparación analítica.