Why Africa should abandon the idea of genomic sovereignty in research involving humans

In this podcast episode, Professor Donrich Thaldar and Dr Faith Kabatadiscuss the governance of human genomic data in Africa.

Summary

Genomic sovereignty has no utility value in human genomic research as it violates the rights of individuals and researchers. Mexico’s regulatory approach that is based on genomic sovereignty is contrasted with Finland’s more individual-centric, human rightsapproach. It is suggested that this human rights approach is more promising, as it aligns with states’ obligations under international human rights law—in particular the right to science.

Further reading

Kabata F, Thaldar DW. Regulating human genomic research in Africa: Why a human rights approach is a more promising conceptual framework than genomic sovereignty. Frontiers in Genetics2023;14.

Funding

This episode was made possible by a grant from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (award number U01MH127690) under the Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) program. The content of this podcast is solely the responsibility of discussants of the podcast and does not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health or the U.S. National Institutes of Health.