# name
'Researchers have love for life': opportunities and barriers to
                engage pregnant women in malaria research in post-Ebola Liberia

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
BACKGROUND: Adoption of prevention and therapeutic innovations
                to ensure that National Malaria Control Programmes meet their
                incidence reduction targets is highly dependent on the conduct
                of rigorous clinical trials. In Liberia, malaria control
                virtually halted during the recent Ebola epidemic, and could
                enormously benefit from innovations to protect its most
                vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, against
                malaria. Health policy-planners could feel more inclined to
                adopt novel interventions with demonstrated safety and efficacy
                when trialled among their women population. However, pregnant
                women are especially vulnerable when targeted as research
                participants. Whilst some studies in the region attempted to
                understand the ethical issues around the conduct of clinical
                research, there is need of such information from Liberia to
                inform future malaria research. METHODS: This is a grounded
                theory study that aims to understand the barriers and
                opportunities for pregnant women to consent to participate in
                malaria research in Liberia. The study was conducted between
                November 2016 and May 2017 at the St Joseph's Catholic Hospital,
                Monrovia. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were
                held with hospital staff, traditional community representatives,
                and pregnant women. RESULTS: According to the participants,
                useful strategies to motivate pregnant women to consent to
                participate in malaria research could be providing
                evidence-based education on malaria and research to the general
                population and encouraging engagement of traditional leaders in
                research design and community mobilization. Fears and suspicions
                towards research and researchers, which were amplified during
                the conduct of Ebola vaccine and drug clinical trials, may
                influence women's acceptance and willingness to engage in
                malaria research. Population's mistrust in the public healthcare
                system might hinder their acceptance of research, undermining
                the probability of their benefiting from any improved malaria
                control intervention. CONCLUSION: Benchmarking for acceptable
                practices from previous public health interventions; building
                community discussion and dissemination platforms; and mapping
                communication and information errors from how previous research
                interventions were explained to the Liberian population, are
                strategies that might help ensure a safe and fully informed
                participation of pregnant women in malaria research. Inequity
                issues impeding access and use of biomedical care for women must
                be tackled urgently.

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
'Researchers have love for life': opportunities and barriers to
                engage pregnant women in malaria research in post-Ebola Liberia