Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118172

Klodian Rjepaj, MD, HIV/AIDS Policy and Programs, Institute of Public Health, Rr. Aleksander Moisiu Nr. 80, Tirana, Albania, 3554370058, klo_klo1@yahoo.com, Alban Ylli, MD, MSc, Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Rruga Alexander Moisiu 80, Tirana, Albania, and Irene Jillson, PhD, School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, 3700 Reservoir Road, St. Mary's Hall - Room 122, Washington, DC 20057.

The Institute for Public Health in Albania (IPH) has for three years engaged in efforts to strengthen its capacity, and that of other public and private sector health institutions in Albania, to conduct public health research and community-based health services research. A particular focus of these initiatives has been the adaptation and/or development of tools and methods to ensure that data collection and analysis meets international standards for the conduct of ethically appropriate research. The IPH is also in the vanguard of creating and applying methods that take into account diverse socio-cultural and historical factors, including the decades-long history of dictatorship, which resulted in diminishing trust in authority, including trust in those conducting health research. This limits the ability to conduct public and community-based health research, in particular that regarding sensitive health behaviors. It also limits the validity of findings regarding evidence-based practices because there is less confidence in reported findings. This presentation includes a discussion of 1) the tools and methods developed by the IPH to ensure adherence to ethical standards in conducting the research and overcome the sociopolitical and other limitations; 2) innovative IPH policies regarding ethical standards in public health research (e.g., regarding data sharing, use of culturally appropriate data collection instruments and methods); 3) plans to institutionalize procedures for review and approval of prospective research conduct by Albanian researchers and others conducting health research in Albania; and 4) IPH innovative approaches to designing and implementing ethically appropriate research policies in the context of scarce resources.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the presentation the participants will be able to discuss practical approaches to addressing ethical concerns in conducting public health research in a low-income country.
• At the end of the session participants will be able to describe policies developed by the Institute for Public Health in Albania to ensure adherence to ethical standards in conducting public health research.
• At the end of the session participants will be able to identify ethically-appropriate approaches to conducting commmunity based research in low-income countries.

Keywords: Ethics, International Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.