AIDS vaccine research participation in Kenya: understanding gender-related barriers and social impact

 

 

To better understand potential barriers to women’s participation, recruitment, enrollment and participation in AIDS vaccine research, the dual perspectives of the study participant as well as the researcher were examined. In-depth and key informant interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted among vaccine study staff, past and current vaccines study participants and peer leaders in two vaccine study sites in Nairobi, Kenya. The data show that the stages of vaccine study participation - recruitment, enrollment and retention - are gendered, meaning that women and men experience them differently. Themes emerged around access to information, decision-making processes, and costs and benefits of participation, which deepen our understanding of specific gender-related factors that influence participants' experience. This understanding can strengthen mobilization, outreach, recruitment and retention support systems and thus improve chances of achieving the ethical development and delivery of safe, effective and accessible vaccines. See report here: http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/Clinical-Science-Meets-Social-Science-Gender-and-AIDS-Vaccine-Research.pdf