Ethical problems in health research with indigenous or originary peoples in Peru

Abstract

The varied, abrupt and amazing geography of the land of Peru is home of one of the major concentrations of indigenous peoples in the world. The asymmetry of power, however, in their relationship with the rest of society and the State is still very evident in their social exclusion, their gap in social and economic development, barriers in their access to health services as well as their marginalization and exploitation as subjects of health research. In this paper, we analyse two cases of research on indigenous populations in Peru, discuss them from the point of view of bioethics and reflect on important issues for researchers, research participants and the society, such as the need to respect different cultures, the need that the research being done is relevant to the needs of the population in which it is conducted and the necessity to empower indigenous communities in participatory research, to strengthen the institutions and to protect human rights, namely through ethics committees for research and the free, informed and meaningful informed consent. This approach should foster quality research, while at the same time fully respecting human rights and bioethics. We cannot forget that advancements in genetics, throughout the world, are very much in debt to indigenous populations.

Relevant ethical consideration in research with indigenous people in Peru

“…We differ from those views (Zavaleta et al 2016) and reiterate our comments (Minaya and Roque 2015). We welcome this opportunity to discuss the ethical issues that should be respected particularly in indigenous communities.…”

“…To the Editor: The letter by Zavaleta et al (2016) challenges our opinion (Minaya and Roque 2015) referring to ethical weaknesses of their research (Zavaleta et al 2007). They considered that the ethics requirements were fulfilled under the authorization of the Ministry of Health of Peru, the approval of the ethics committee of the Cayetano Heredia University, and the consent of the Chayahuita community leader.…”

Consideraciones éticas para la investigación en salud con pueblos indígenas de Colombia

“…Es en este contexto que los pueblos originarios de varios países han defendido activamente su derecho a la autodeterminación en cuanto a su participación en la investigación y a obtener beneficio directo de los conocimientos generados. La participación se refiere cada vez más a todo el proceso investigativo, desde establecer las prioridades en salud hasta colaborar en el diseño, en la realización y en la difusión de los resultados (15)(16)(17)(18).…”

“…Junto a las normas, también se han construido pautas particulares que se han suscitado desde las inquietudes planteadas por las comunidades indígenas, a partir de experiencias con algunos pueblos originarios nacionales, sobre la pertinencia de los procesos investigativos y los beneficios esperables. No obstante, son pautas propuestas desde el punto de vista del investigador, y no desde el grupo poblacional «investigado» (15)(16)(17)(18)21).…”

Health research: working with Indigenous People in Peru

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Dear Editor, We want to manifest our concern about a recent original article published in your journal that cited one of our articles. Gabriela Minaya and Joel Roque have included our work about indigenous people and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the Peruvian Amazon (Zavaleta et al 2007a) in their discussion about BEthical problems in health research with Indigenous or originary peoples in Peru^ (Minaya and Roque 2015). We have detected a number of serious discrepancies between their affirmations regarding what we did vs. what we have published in 2007.Minaya and Roque questioned if we provided education and treatment for our participants.

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