Research, therapy, and bioethical hegemony: the controversy over perinatal AZT trials in Africa

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Periodical article

Title:	Research, therapy, and bioethical hegemony: the controversy over perinatal AZT trials in Africa
Author:	Wendland, Claire L.
Year:	2008
Periodical:	African Studies Review
Volume:	51
Issue:	3
Pages:	1-23
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Africa Malawi
Subjects:	medical research AIDS ethics
External link:	http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/african_studies_review/v051/51.3.wendland.pdf
Abstract:	International collaborative trials of short-course zidovudine (AZT) to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa sparked worldwide debate in the late 1990s. The debate ultimately led to revisions in ethical codes in the conduct of international clinical research, in at least one case specifically to prohibit use of a placebo group (the most controversial aspect of the research) when known effective treatment is available. The author draws upon clinical experience in Malawi and theoretical perspectives from anthropology to reframe the controversy. She argues that the dominant bioethical position constructed research and therapy as ethically distinct. This distinction ensured that inequalities of power and resources between the First World and the Third World were perpetuated, not remedied, by the AZT debates. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]