Developing World Bioethics ISSN 1471-8731 (print); 1471-8847 (online) Volume 7 Number 3 2007 pp 136–142 © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. doi:10.1111/j.1471-8847.2006.00172.x Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UKDEWBDeveloping World Bioethics1471-8731Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006200673136142Articles Ethics Committees in Western and Central AfricaPierre Effa et al. Address for correspondence: Henri Debois, 4 Place d’Ainay, F-69002, Lyon, France. henri.debois@wanadoo.fr ETHICS COMMITTEES IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA: CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS PIERRE EFFA, ACHILLE MASSOUGBODJI, FRANCINE NTOUMI, FRANÇOIS HIRSCH, HENRI DEBOIS, MARISSA VICARI, ASSETOU DERME, JACQUES NDEMANGA-KAMOUNE, JOSEPH NGUEMBO, BENIDO IMPOUMA, JEAN-PAUL AKUÉ, ARMAND EHOUMAN, ALIOUNE DIEYE AND WEN KILAMA ABSTRACT The involvement of developing countries in international clinical trials is necessary for the development of appropriate medicines for local populations. However, the absence of appropriate structures for ethical review represents a barrier for certain countries. Currently there is very little information available on existing structures dedi- cated to ethics in western and central Africa. This article briefly describes historical milestones in the development of networks ded- icated to capacity building in ethical review in these regions and outlines the major conclusions of two workshops on this issue, which were held in September and October 2002 in Libreville, Gabon, and Paris, France. The workshops were the culmination of collaboration between the African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET) and the Pan African Bioethics Initiative (PABIN). They produced an update on ethics organizations with regard to mission, function, activities, members, and contact people, in eight countries within the regions discussed. As a result of the commitment of mandated delegates, a further prominent outcome followed these workshops: the creation of national structures, where none existed before, dedicated to the ethical review of clinical trials. Keywords ethics , research ethics , ethics committees , western Africa , central Africa , clinical trial , community network The participation of African countries in large-scale clinical trials is important both for the development of appropriate medicines for African populations and for the African scientific community. The absence of structures dedicated to the ethical review of clinical trials in certain African countries, how- ever, poses a practical problem to those who try to organize large-scale clinical trials. It is generally felt that collaboration with international research cen- tres or with industry will remain closed to African researchers until appropriate structures for the eth- ical review of clinical trials are in place and func- tioning on the national level. Over the past few years, African networks that address this problem