Research Ethics Review in Humanitarian Contexts: The Experience of the Independent Ethics Review Board of Médecins Sans Frontières - PLoS Medicine, Vol. 6, Issue 7

Médecins Sans Frontie`res (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organisa- tion that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 80 countries. In its work, MSF is often confronted with situations for which effective and feasible interven- tions are lacking. As a result, over the past few years, MSF has expanded its research activities. But although MSF often works in close collaboration with scientific institutes and ministries of health that have their own ethical review mechanisms to oversee research, MSF as a humanitarian organisation has concerns that are distinct from those of academic institutions and wants to endorse with confidence any research that takes place under its name. Furthermore, not all countries in which MSF works have ethics committees, some local ethics committees may not have the resources to function optimally, and the local or national government is not always a guarantor for the well-being of its population. For these reasons, in 2001 MSF decided to institute its own ethics review board (ERB).