Subscribe to RSS
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1775580
Medical Research Disparities in Latin America
Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Abstract
Clinical research is an essential aspect of advancing medical knowledge, improving patient outcomes, and reducing the burden of diseases. However, there are significant discrepancies in access to high-quality research worldwide, particularly in Latin American countries. Despite being crucial for evidence of efficacy in clinical research, randomized controlled trials are relatively scarce in Latin America compared with developed countries like the United States. This article explores the challenges and limitations that Latin American researchers face when conducting health-related clinical trials, including lack of economic resources, political instability, language barriers, and scarcity of indexed journals. Moreover, this article sheds light on the challenges in the fields of diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology in Latin America, such as limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, low awareness of the importance of imaging for accurate diagnoses and treatment, lack of specialized training programs, few opportunities for research, and insufficient funding. Addressing these challenges is crucial for Latin American researchers to produce high-quality clinical research and contribute to global medical knowledge, ultimately improving health outcomes and quality of life for people worldwide.
Keywords
clinical research - medical research - Latin America - interventional radiology - challenges and limitationsEthics Approval
This study did not require institutional review board approval; the research satisfied all requirements under 45 Code of Federal Regulations 164.512.
Consent for Publication
Not applicable.
Availability of Data and Materials
Not applicable.
Competing Interests
The authors have no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests to disclose.
Preprint Publication
Not applicable.
Publication History
Received: 27 May 2023
Accepted: 27 July 2023
Article published online:
23 October 2023
© 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved.
Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
333 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USA
-
References
- 1 Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information, The HIPAA Privacy Rule. Nass SJ, Levit LA, Gostin LO. editors Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health Through Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US); 2009. 3, The Value, Importance, and Oversight of Health Research. Accessed September 5, 2023 at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9571/
- 2 Barton S. Which clinical studies provide the best evidence? The best RCT still trumps the best observational study. BMJ 2000; 321 (7256): 255-256
- 3 WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). Number of clinical trial registrations by location, disease, phase of development, age and sex of trial participants (1999–2021). 2022. Accessed September 5, 2023 at: https://www.who.int/observatories/global-observatory-on-health-research-and-development/monitoring/number-of-trial-registrations-by-year-location-disease-and-phase-of-development
- 4 Virk J, Holmes D. Radiology in Mexico: country report. J Glob Radiol 2023; 9 (01). DOI: 10.7191/jgr.632.
- 5 Ciocca DR, Delgado G. The reality of scientific research in Latin America; an insider's perspective. Cell Stress Chaperones 2017; 22 (06) 847-852
- 6 Moses III H, Matheson DHM, Cairns-Smith S, George BP, Palisch C, Dorsey ER. The anatomy of medical research: US and international comparisons. JAMA 2015; 313 (02) 174-189
- 7 The World Bank. Indicators. 2015. Accessed February 23, 2016 at: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator
- 8 Benedetti V, Echeverria G, Riquelme I. Biomedical research in Latin America: we can do more. Lancet 2016; 387 (10022): 941
- 9 National Institute of Health (NIH). Research Project Grants: Average Size. NIH Report Data Book. 2022. Accessed September 5, 2023 at https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/155
- 10 Leon B. , Rivery Tur J. Cutting edge pharmaceutical production and scientific research in Cuba. Official Voice of the PCC. Granma; 2017. Accessed September 5, 2023 at: https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2017-02-14/cutting-edge-pharmaceutical-production-and-scientific-research-in-cuba
- 11 Ransing R, Vadivel R, Halabi SE. et al. Language as multi-level barrier in health research and the way forward. Indian J Psychol Med 2023; 45 (01) 65-68
- 12 Alfaro-Toloza P, Olmos-de-Aguilera R. Latin American medical journals indexed by Thomson ISI. Lancet 2012; 380 (9847): 1057-1058
- 13 Sumathipala A, Siribaddana S, Patel V. Under-representation of developing countries in the research literature: ethical issues arising from a survey of five leading medical journals. BMC Med Ethics 2004; 5: E5
- 14 Mendoza J. . Number of registered clinical studies in the Latin America as of July 2022, by country. Statista 2022. Clinical Trials Latin America 2022. Accessed September 5, 2023 at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1013599/latin-america-clinical-trials/
- 15 Vessuri H, Guédon J-C, Cetto AM. Excellence or quality? Impact of the current competition regime on science and scientific publishing in Latin America and its implications for development. Curr Sociol 2014; 62 (05) 647-665
- 16 Packer AL. The SciELO publication model as an open access public policy. SciELO; 2019. Accessed September 5, 2023 at: https://blog.scielo.org/en/2019/12/18/the-scielo-publication-model-as-an-open-access-public-policy/
- 17 Fornazari VAV, da Motta-Leal-Filho JM. Challenges of interventional radiology in Brazil! Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 2022; 45 (10) 1570-1571
- 18 European Society of Radiology (ESR). Summary of the proceedings of the International Forum 2017: Position of interventional radiology within radiology. Insights into Imaging 2018; 9 (02) 189-197 DOI: 10.1007/s13244-018-0594-5.