ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that supporting universal ethical standards for human research, such as the ones proposed in the Helsinki Declaration ("assuring the best proven treatment") does not necessarily mean lack of sensibility for local problems. On the contrary, the best way to honor the rights of persons, made diverse by their race, class, gender, and nation of origin, may be to treat them all with the same respect and consideration. The chapter focuses on placebo-controlled AZT drug trials on HlV-infected pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. In general the purpose of the sub-Saharan drug trials was to identify effective yet affordable drug treatments for HIV-infected pregnant women. Although fetus-oriented researchers claim that they exclude pregnant women from their research studies in order to protect them, in point of fact they are trying to protect not these women but their fetuses.
