The globalisation of research has resulted in the increased location of research involving humans in developing countries. Countries in Africa, along with China and India, have seen research grow significantly. With emerging infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Zika, emphasising the risk of public health crises throughout the world, a further increase in health research, including clinical research in developing countries, which are often the sites of these diseases, becomes inevitable. This growth raises questions about domestic regulation and the governance of health research. This book presents a comprehensive and systemic view of the regulation of research involving humans in African countries. It employs case studies from four countries in which research activities continue to rise, and which have taken steps to regulate health research activity: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. The book examines the historical and political contexts of these governance efforts. It describes the research context, some of the research taking place, and the current challenges. It also looks at the governance mechanisms, ranging from domestic ethical guidelines to legal frameworks, the strengthening of existing regulatory agencies to the role of professional regulatory bodies. The book analyses the adequacy of current governance arrangements within African countries, and puts forward recommendations to improve the emerging governance systems for health research in African and other developing countries. It book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers working in the areas of health research, biomedical ethics, health law and regulation in developing countries.

The globalisation of research has resulted in the increased location of research involving humans in developing countries. Countries in Africa, along with China and India, have seen research grow significantly. With emerging infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Zika, emphasising the risk of public health crises throughout the world, a further increase in health research, including clinical research in developing countries, which are often the sites of these diseases, becomes inevitable. This growth raises questions about domestic regulation and the governance of health research. This book presents a comprehensive and systemic view of the regulation of research involving humans in African countries. It employs case studies from four countries in which research activities continue to rise, and which have taken steps to regulate health research activity: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. The book examines the historical and political contexts of these governance efforts. It describes the research context, some of the research taking place, and the current challenges. It also looks at the governance mechanisms, ranging from domestic ethical guidelines to legal frameworks, the strengthening of existing regulatory agencies to the role of professional regulatory bodies. The book analyses the adequacy of current governance arrangements within African countries, and puts forward recommendations to improve the emerging governance systems for health research in African and other developing countries. It book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers working in the areas of health research, biomedical ethics, health law and regulation in developing countries.

“We must do something to pass the time, I thought. Two women in a room, hands and feet tied.”

Kidnapped in Nigeria by a group not unlike Boko Haram, two women, Nwabulu and Julie, relate the stories of the very different lives fate has meted out for them.

When Nwabulu’s father dies, her stepmother sends her off to become a housemaid. For years, she suffers the abuse of employers, a love affair with an employer’s son offering little comfort. Out of their union a son is born, but the young Nwabulu has to give him up, and is bound to suffer in her stepmother’s home again until she can flee, establishing herself as a fashion designer, finally able to inhabit Julie’s world.

Julie: privileged, educated, and adored by her parents. She has the opportunity to become whomever she desires. But sometimes too much choice can be a dangerous thing, and in Julie’s case it is. At thirty-four she is still unmarried and, for the first time, there is pressure: a burden that will only be lifted with the birth of a son. So determined is Julie for release that she goes as far as a polygamous marriage.

While the two women wait for the ransom to be paid, fate will once again decide the course of their lives.

A COMPELLING STORY CELEBRATING THE RESILIENCE OF TWO WOMEN AS THEY NAVIGATE WHAT REMAINS A STRONGLY PATRIARCHAL NIGERIA "I absolutely loved his book. Nwabulu and Julie are incredible, fully formed and fully flaw, characters that walk straight off the page and nestle in your heart as you read on." Simon Savidge, The Frank Magazine Nwabulu has been a housemaid since the age of ten but her dreams of becoming a typist are never weakened by the endless chores she is tasked with by her employers. She has fallen in love with a rich man's son. Julie is a modern woman, educated and independent. She has no intention of becoming love-struck Eugene's second wife but allows herself to enjoy his extravagant gifts. When dramatic events force Nwabulu and Julie into a dank room, the two women relate the stories of their contrasting experiences as they await their fate. Set against four decades of Nigerian history, The Son of the House is a stunning debut pulsing with vitality and intense human drama.