18th Forum – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19-20 November 2024

Ethical issues arising in research into health and climate change

WHO and the Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Law

 

Supported by:

• Wellcome
• UK Medical Research Council
• South African Medical Research Council
• National Institutes of Health
• Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Law (co-host)

Members of the Planning Committee for this meeting are:

• Kevin Behrens, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
• Katherine Littler, Health Ethics and Governance Unit, World Health Organization
• Cheryl Macpherson, St George’s University, Grenada
• Julian Sheather, Consultant, World Health Organization, UK
• Amelia Turagabeci, Fiji National University, Fiji
• Fortunate Machingura, CeSHHAR, Zimbabwe
• Renzo R. Guinto, Duke-NUS Medical School National University of Singapore & St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
• Anna Chiumento, Edinburgh University, UK
• Phaik Yeong Cheah, University of Oxford, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), Thailand
• Yasna Palmeiro Silva, The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, UK
• Ross Upshur, University of Toronto, Canada

 

Keynote presentations

• Climate change, health, (bio)ethics and Africa: Lessons from the 1st International Climate and Health Africa conference, 29-30 October, Zimbabwe
  Fortunate Machingura, CeSHHAR, Zimbabwe
• Research into health and climate change: ethical issues
  Julian Sheather, World Health Organization (consultant), UK

 

Pecha Kucha (session 1)

Chair: Amelia Turagabeci, Fiji National University, Fiji

 

• Climate disaster and women’s vulnerability: a case study on menstrual hygiene management of internally displaced women in the Sundarban Regions of India
  Puja Das, International Institute for Population Sciences, India (case study)
• Ethical issues with “The changing role of women in the agriculture sector and their contribution to climate change adaptation – a case study of Sigatoka and Ba, Fiji”
  Radhisha Nath, Fiji National University, Fiji (case study)
• Ethical dilemmas in health and climate research: a case study on indigenous rights and mutual benefits
  Wellester Alvis, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia (case study)
• Ethical dimensions of the Multi-Tier Framework: balancing gender equity, health, and climate justice
  Brenda Odero, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Strathmore University, Kenya (case study)
  

 

Theme 1: Interdisciplinary approaches, co-production & integrating indigenous knowledge

• Introduction to the theme
  Yasna Palmeiro Silva, The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, UK

Kevin Behrens, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

 

• An impact evaluation of climate adaptation actions on nutritional and psychosocial health in rural mid-Zambezi Valley: review and discussion of ethical issues arising
  Admire Nyamwanza, Institute of Natural Resources, South Africa (case study)
• The ethical challenges of researching the exposure of informal outdoor workers to the health impacts of climate change in urban Vietnam
  Anh Vu, National Centre for Social Research, UK (case study)

 

Theme 2: Rethinking research ethics governance

Chair: Katherine Littler, World Health Organization, Switzerland

 

Panel members:

• Philosophical and conceptual issues
  Tony Capon, Monash University, Australia
• Practical implications of a narrow conception of research ethics in this field
  Ana Palmero, World Health Organization (consultant), Argentina
• How to distribute different types of responsibilities appropriately across the research ecosystem
  Carleigh Krubiner, Wellcome, UK

 

Theme 3: Research agenda setting and uptake: power, justice and fairness

• Introduction to the theme
  Ross Upshur, University of Toronto, Canada

 

• Ethics of environmental research in the context of climate change: the case of the 2019 flood in Aq Qala, Iran
  Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran and Monash University, Australia (case study)
• Co-production of climate-sensitive infectious diseases ethics rules with women grassroots organizations in Paraguay
  María Victoria Gerbaldo, Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Ethics Collaborative (GLIDE) and Climate Ethics and Development Foundation, Argentina (case study)
• Conducting research on preventing climate change-related diseases protecting the interests of most affected countries: a bioethical perspective on dengue
  Guímel Peralta, Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC), Honduras (case study)

 

Day 1 summary – key issues arising in themes 1-3

• Michael Parker, Oxford University, UK
• Jantina De Vries, University of Cape Town, South Africa

 

Theme 4: Impact of health research on climate change

• Introduction to the theme
  Anna Chiumento, University of Edinburgh, UK

 

• Clinical trials, environmental harms and the response-ability to act 
  Gabrielle Samuel, King’s College London, UK (case study)
• Balancing act: ethical considerations in data-intensive health research and environmental sustainability in Kenya and Senegal
  Mercury Shitindo, Africa Bioethics Network, Kenya (case study)

 

Theme 5: New research and emerging technology: balancing speed and caution

• Introduction to the theme
  Fortunate Machingura, CeSHHAR, Zimbabwe

 

• Ethics and governance of solar geoengineering research: a bioethical analysis of the SCoPEx small outdoor experiment
  Ignacio Mastroleo, Bioethics Program of IICSAL-FLACSO-CONICET, Argentina & Degrees Socio Political Fund, UK (case study)
• Balancing urgency and caution in the face of climate change: how to advance new research for malaria control?
  Delphine Thizy, Target Malaria, UK (case study)
• Harmonious coexistence: ethical issues arising from studies on improving plant pollination with micro-drone swarms, while safeguarding insect populations and fostering human health
  Matimba Swana, University of Bristol, UK (case study)

 

Pecha Kucha (session 2)

Chair: Phaik Yeong Cheah, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand

 

• Examining the ethical implications of the burden of heat wave-related illnesses in indigenous communities in Puruliya, West Bengal, India
  Sajda Khatoon, Manbhum Ananda Ashram Nityananda Trust, India (case study)
• Study of socioeconomic disparity on the effect of heat on health in persons working in the same organisation
  Renu Varghese, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, India (case study)
• Ethics of research on climate change and health in colonial Africa must emphasize reparative and distributive justice: the case of colonial land alienation and climate impact on health in the British East Africa Protectorate (Kenya) 
  David Wanjeri, Egerton University, Kenya (case study)
• Ethics of microbiome science, climate change and health
  Yonghui Ma, Xiamen University, China (case study)
• Adaptability during adversity: climate change and health policy in hard-to-reach communities Jigawa State, Nigeria.
  Ibrahim Umar, Federal University Dutse, Nigeria (case study)

 

Key themes arising from the meeting

Chair: Sharon Kaur, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia

 

Panellists:

• Jerome Singh, Academy of Science of South Africa, South Africa
• Amelia Turagabeci, Fiji National University, Fiji
• Yasna Palmeiro Silva, The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, UK
• Caesar Atuire, University of Oxford and University of Ghana

 

Presentation of awards and announcement about next year’s meeting

Katherine Littler, World Health Organization, Switzerland
Caesar Atuire, University of Oxford and University of Ghana

 

A background paper was prepared in advance of the meeting and provides an overview of the key ethical issues raised by this important topic.

A meeting report will be available in 2025.

We are very interested to hear about participants’ post-meeting activities. Please do keep us up-to-date by emailing gfbr@who.int.