Inducing HIV Remission in Neonates: Child Rights and Research Ethics

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognizes children as independent rights holders and articulates 38 substantive rights, including four general principles. It obligates states parties to realize these rights. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (Committee) oversees implementation of the CRC and can draw attention to areas requiring improvement. Many of the CRC's rights have implications for clinical research. While they justify some nontherapeutic research, they also require participants' protection. The Committee's guidance that decision-makers justify their decisions by reference to child rights has the potential to enrich the deliberations of research ethics committees. The CRC is consistent with requirements that low- and middle-income countries ensure that domestic research is relevant to the health needs of their populations and that resulting products and services are available to their populations. The CRC provides strong recognition of the role of parents and families and duties of states parties to support them in fulfilling their role. This could include support to improve informed consent processes.