Dilemmas of health equity in global health research: A study of research on climate-sensitive infectious disease

Dilemmas of health equity in global health research is an academic research project that aims to challenge the boundaries of research ethics and creatively explore new opportunities for researchers, in partnership with communities, to respond meaningfully and sustainably to causes of health inequity.

Dilemmas is being undertaken by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in research ethics, community engagement and microbiology. This team is taking a normative and empirical approach to research ethics, focusing on climate-sensitive infectious disease in the context of deep poverty. Through a study of research culture, we aim to model effective, co-equal dialogue among local communities, researchers, research institutions, funders, and policy stakeholders about health equity solutions in research on climate-sensitive infectious disease. With this project the research team is exploring the power of researchers’ institutional networks, together with proactive community participation, to fill the gap in guidance and support for infectious disease researchers who seek to be responsive to causes of health inequity as they design and conduct their studies.

Dilemmas focuses on infectious disease research needed to predict impacts of climate change upon disease burden, in settings where threats of infectious disease, poverty, and climate change overlap. Within this context, the overall objective is to explore critically the ethical challenges and opportunities in researchers’ efforts to respond, in partnership with communities, to poverty and climate change as underlying determinants of health. To meet this objective, the research team has two specific aims.

Aim 1: Delineate and critically examine a range of possibilities for what is required of researchers, research institutions, and funders to address poverty and climate change, as underlying determinants of health, in research on climate-sensitive infectious diseases.

Aim 2: Investigate infectious disease researchers’ views and experiences regarding the scope of responsibility for addressing poverty and climate change, as underlying determinants of health, in research on climate-sensitive infectious diseases.