Research and informed consent in africa — another look

The current practice of requiring the informed consent of research subjects is relatively new. The emphasis on a person's right to accept or refuse participation in biomedical research stems directly from the atrocities committed by Nazi “scientists” — an extreme instance of ignoring the value of individual human beings allegedly in the pursuit of knowledge.^{1 2 3} Similar but less dramatic disrespect for the subjects of medical research was common just after the Second World War and reflected the paternalistic atmosphere that pervaded medical practice at that time.^1,4 More recent examples of unethical research, which stimulated the development of the current theory.