Justice and the Human Development Approach to International Research
Alex John London
Abstract
Abstract This chapter articulates and defends the human development approach to international research. This approach extends into the international context the egalitarian research imperative outlined in chapter 4, the integrative approach to research risk in chapter 6, and the non-paternalistic approach to research oversight in chapter 7. In this approach, requirements related to responsiveness to host community health needs, the standard of care, and post-trial access to study interventions are grounded in requirements of justice and the egalitarian research imperative. The result is a unified foundation for both domestic and international research ethics that treats research as a social undertaking, recognizes justice as the first virtue of social institutions, and gives moral force to the imperative to generate the information needed to improve the ability of social institutions to advance the common good.