Ethical Principles for the Sustainable Development of Drugs for Neglected Tropical Diseases in Neglected Populations: Facilitating Meaningful Participation of Vulnerable People and Communities

The changes in the 2024 Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) to promote the engagement of vulnerable people and communities will certainly contribute to innovative research and development (R&D) of interventions for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Firstly, this presupposes the establishment of robust community participation in all stages of the research to overcome structural inequalities in healthcare around the world. Secondly, counteracting previous cautionary measures that systematically excluded vulnerable populations from research will avoid perpetuating the vicious cycle of health disparities. Thirdly, with these changes in the 2024 DoH, research with vulnerable participants could be facilitated for their benefit. Above all, to protect against exploitation, post-trial benefit-sharing must be guaranteed.

This chapter reviews the improvement of the renewed DoH from the viewpoint of technological innovation from R&D for NTDs in neglected populations (twice neglected) to achieve equitable and sustainable goals of global health.