In the last few days, allegations of terrible ethical violations have hit the news. These primarily concern Congolese women who are being recruited for the Ebola vaccine trials, and who are seeking vaccination under the “compassionate use” exemptions that allow ring vaccination with this not-yet-cleared-for-use vaccine where Ebola epidemics are occurring. For more on where and under what circumstances the vaccine is being made available, see the World Health Organization site, last updated October 2018.

In January, Foreign Policy claimed that Ebola has gotten so bad that “it’s normal,” and warned that cases were popping up in North Kivu that had no clear chain of transmission, making it very hard indeed to stop the spread of the disease. Two days ago, the death toll from the current Ebola outbreak in the DCR was reported to have surpassed 500 dead.

For more on this issue of women being coerced into sex in exchange for Ebola vaccination, see these sources:

• Kate Holt (in Beni) and Rebecca Ratcliffe. “Ebola vaccine offered in exchange for sex, Congo taskforce meeting told.” The Guardian. February 12, 2019. Reposted widely including by Bhekisisa, a South African center for health journalism/reporting whose name means “to scrutinize” in Zulu.
• Mildred Europa Taylor. “Forced to have sex in exchange for Ebola vaccines, DCR women speak up.” Face2Face Africa. February 13, 2019.

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Of note: aid organizations familiar with corruption and the context of the delivery of medical aid in this region are not even surprised. Also of note: the DRC’s Ministry of Health has hit back, claiming the reporting by Holt and Ratcliffe in the Guardian is “shoddy.” Their argument is that the report showed that women and girls were afraid they would be extorted for sex, and were extorted for sex in relation to other health matters, but none explicitly related to Ebola vaccine access. An RT article on this issue noted that the Congolese government did put out “a public call for residents to report anyone offering treatment or vaccination in exchange for money,” but it is not clear whether there was a request for reports of anyone offering treatment of vaccination in exchange for sex.

Research ethics often focuses on coercion which participants are subjected to in order to get them to consent. Here we have a pattern in which people desperately want to participate and are allegedly coerced into providing sex in exchange for access.

We will be watching this issue and bring you updates as the matter shakes out.