{"title":"Nancy Olivieri: Sometimes, truth has only one face","authors":"Sandhya Srinivasan","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.022","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"110 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140709082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Research on emerging infectious diseases: pros and cons of centralised government controls","authors":"R. Vaman","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.016","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140414579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Government policies concerning access to menstrual hygiene primarily focus on adolescent girls and women, leaving out transgender individuals. Addressing access to menstrual hygiene for transgender persons will require two key steps: first, their inclusion in current policies, and second, framing additional policies to address specific needs. Due to the absence of specific studies on this subject, this commentary relies on personal narratives and international studies. Improving access to menstrual hygiene among transgender individuals will require the enhancing of the availability of menstrual hygiene products, mitigating of stigma and fear of harassment, sensitising of healthcare workers, and ensuring the availability of proper washrooms. In addition, addressing the menstrual injustice experienced by transgender persons involves addressing socioeconomic factors such as caste, poverty, and access to education. Using the lens of structural intersectionality, this article undertakes a review of oppressive systems causing menstrual injustice. This approach is intended to enable policymakers and researchers to consider the multifaceted identities of menstruators, fostering a holistic understanding that will inform their approach towards achieving menstrual equality.
{"title":"Transgender persons and structural intersectionality: Towards menstrual justice for all menstruators in India","authors":"Muskan Tibrewala","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.015","url":null,"abstract":"Government policies concerning access to menstrual hygiene primarily focus on adolescent girls and women, leaving out transgender individuals. Addressing access to menstrual hygiene for transgender persons will require two key steps: first, their inclusion in current policies, and second, framing additional policies to address specific needs. Due to the absence of specific studies on this subject, this commentary relies on personal narratives and international studies. Improving access to menstrual hygiene among transgender individuals will require the enhancing of the availability of menstrual hygiene products, mitigating of stigma and fear of harassment, sensitising of healthcare workers, and ensuring the availability of proper washrooms. In addition, addressing the menstrual injustice experienced by transgender persons involves addressing socioeconomic factors such as caste, poverty, and access to education. Using the lens of structural intersectionality, this article undertakes a review of oppressive systems causing menstrual injustice. This approach is intended to enable policymakers and researchers to consider the multifaceted identities of menstruators, fostering a holistic understanding that will inform their approach towards achieving menstrual equality.","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"50 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140422092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cancer and caste inequality among rural women in South India","authors":"Sre Ratha","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.014","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"73 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140433992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Enock Kipchirchir Kebenei, Daisy Cheruiyot, Gideon Cornel Msee, James Nguya, T. Kiplagat, Elizabeth A Bukusi
Background: The Covid-19 pandemic led to unprecedented impact on many sectors globally including research. We assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the research portfolio, and on the approval turnaround time for research protocols submitted to the Scientific and Ethics Review Unit (SERU), at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Methods: We compared research protocols submitted between October 01, 2019 and March 31, 2020 (Period 1), to those submitted between April 1 and September 30, 2020 (Period 2). A document review tool was used to extract data from the 198 research protocols reviewed and approved over the two periods. Results: In the two periods under review, the single largest percentage of protocols (89/198, 45.4%) involved infectious and parasitic diseases, and the single largest percentage of study designs was cross-sectional (75/198, 38%). Before the pandemic, the median time taken to review KEMRI-linked protocols was 87 days and for non-KEMRI linked protocols it was 121 days. During the pandemic, approval turnaround time dropped for both KEMRI and non-KEMRI protocols to 66 days and 92 days, respectively, due to the streamlined processes at the KEMRI SERU. Conclusion: The research portfolio was minimally affected by the pandemic. The adoption of email submission, and faster-than-usual processing and review protocols during the pandemic reduced the approval turnaround time.
{"title":"The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the research portfolio and approval turnaround time at the Kenya Medical Research Institute","authors":"Enock Kipchirchir Kebenei, Daisy Cheruiyot, Gideon Cornel Msee, James Nguya, T. Kiplagat, Elizabeth A Bukusi","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.013","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The Covid-19 pandemic led to unprecedented impact on many sectors globally including research. We assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the research portfolio, and on the approval turnaround time for research protocols submitted to the Scientific and Ethics Review Unit (SERU), at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Methods: We compared research protocols submitted between October 01, 2019 and March 31, 2020 (Period 1), to those submitted between April 1 and September 30, 2020 (Period 2). A document review tool was used to extract data from the 198 research protocols reviewed and approved over the two periods. Results: In the two periods under review, the single largest percentage of protocols (89/198, 45.4%) involved infectious and parasitic diseases, and the single largest percentage of study designs was cross-sectional (75/198, 38%). Before the pandemic, the median time taken to review KEMRI-linked protocols was 87 days and for non-KEMRI linked protocols it was 121 days. During the pandemic, approval turnaround time dropped for both KEMRI and non-KEMRI protocols to 66 days and 92 days, respectively, due to the streamlined processes at the KEMRI SERU. Conclusion: The research portfolio was minimally affected by the pandemic. The adoption of email submission, and faster-than-usual processing and review protocols during the pandemic reduced the approval turnaround time.","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"21 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140438519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Saviour siblings in India: A reminder of our existing challenges and biases","authors":"Salik Ansari, Harikeerthan Raghuram, A. Bhan","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"163 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140453345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This commentary looks at the Kerala Public Health Act (KPHA), passed on November 28, 2023, through the lens of public health ethics. While the Act recognises the importance of prevention and strengthening of social systems, it falters in the public health ethics and human rights framework, ignoring international public health principles such as the Siracusa Principles and guidelines for individual diseases such as tuberculosis. The Covid-19 pandemic in India itself offers ample learnings, which have been disregarded, on the need for caution against state overreach. Principles such as autonomy, privacy/confidentiality, transparency, accountability, rule of law, least harm etc have not even been given token consideration, making this law a potential tool of abuse, particularly against already vulnerable communities.
{"title":"Public health ethics and the Kerala Public Health Act, 2023","authors":"Sylvia Karpagam","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.007","url":null,"abstract":"This commentary looks at the Kerala Public Health Act (KPHA), passed on November 28, 2023, through the lens of public health ethics. While the Act recognises the importance of prevention and strengthening of social systems, it falters in the public health ethics and human rights framework, ignoring international public health principles such as the Siracusa Principles and guidelines for individual diseases such as tuberculosis. The Covid-19 pandemic in India itself offers ample learnings, which have been disregarded, on the need for caution against state overreach. Principles such as autonomy, privacy/confidentiality, transparency, accountability, rule of law, least harm etc have not even been given token consideration, making this law a potential tool of abuse, particularly against already vulnerable communities.","PeriodicalId":503996,"journal":{"name":"Indian Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":"50 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140492010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}