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Review
. 2023 Jun 23;20(13):6210.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20136210.

Global Health Perspectives on Race in Research: Neocolonial Extraction and Local Marginalization

Akhenaten Siankam Tankwanchi  1 , Emmanuella N Asabor  2 , Sten H Vermund  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Global Health Perspectives on Race in Research: Neocolonial Extraction and Local Marginalization

Akhenaten Siankam Tankwanchi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Best practices in global health training prioritize leadership and engagement from investigators from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), along with conscientious community consultation and research that benefits local participants and autochthonous communities. However, well into the 20th century, international research and clinical care remain rife with paternalism, extractive practices, and racist ideation, with race presumed to explain vulnerability or protection from various diseases, despite scientific evidence for far more precise mechanisms for infectious disease. We highlight experiences in global research on health and illness among indigenous populations in LMICs, seeking to clarify what is both scientifically essential and ethically desirable in research with human subjects; we apply a critical view towards race and racism as historically distorting elements that must be acknowledged and overcome.

Keywords: global health; human subjects research; international health; medical racism; research ethics; research neocolonialism; tropical medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

S.H.V. is a current academic editor of IJERPH. A.S.T. and E.N.A. declare no conflict of interest.

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