ABSTRACT
Medical experimentations on black bodies remain a controversial issue. In Africa, many experiments have been conducted under the guise of the greater good, meaning experimenters have intended to find treatments or cures for potentially fatal diseases such as meningitis, tuberculosis, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The legacy of racism in medical experimentation requires moral and ethical critiques, and this essay contributes to those tasks by drawing from global perspectives to examine the racial connotations of vaccine trials. Despite development of international ethical guidelines for trials by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences and the World Medical Association, among other groups, developing countries often lack structures and resources to follow the guidelines. Kenya, a regional economical hub, has welcomed diverse vaccine trial initiatives for malaria, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and tetanus, among conditions. Such trials have earned substantial criticism for multiple reasons, to include a lack of full disclosure about the types of the vaccine administered, short- and long-term impacts on those who become vaccinated, as well as issues regarding their procedural full and informed consent.
