INFROMED CONSENT: HOW TO OBTAIN IT : by Dr. Rajan R Patil

Description
This article published by Dr.Rajan R Patil, illustrates the problem encountered in obtaining challenges in obtaining informed consent among tribal communities.
The case presents the problems grappled with during a study done as part of post-graduate thesis work during 2000-2001 among certain tribal communities in north-central India, and the way they were resolved at the time.

This sero-epidemiological study was done to estimate the point prevalence of kala-azar infection in a certain tribe in north-central India. The study was undertaken because of the high morbidity and mortality due to kala-azar, a vector-borne disease, among this fast dwindling community. The tribe has minimum contact with the outside world. Fewer than two per cent are literate.

The study required three drops of blood from the study participants, using the finger prick method, for the direct agglutination test and the intradermal leishmanin skin test. In addition, baseline information and patient histories were to be gathered through individual interviews. Participants were chosen by systematic random sampling from a population of 9,020. Four padas (tribal hamlets) were chosen and 182 blood samples were collected for the study.