The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched new guidance to support the prioritisation of health research, recognizing the need to make strategic choices when limited resources mean not all projects can be pursued.
Ethics plays a fundamental role in this process, helping to define its goals, guide how it is conducted, and determine who is involved. The guidance aims to synthesize current good practices for integrating ethics into health research priority setting. It is intended for all stakeholders involved in deciding which research to support or undertake.
Alongside the guidance, WHO has also published a casebook titled “The Ethics of Health Research Priority Setting“. The casebook includes 14 cases and scenarios that illustrate how the ethical principles outlined in the guidance can be applied in practice by decision-makers.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
WHO guidance on the ethics of health research priority setting