Research in a community is only as good as the trust behind it. This summer, SCOPE’s full protocol went before the Ogun State Health Research Ethics Committee — and came back approved.
The approval, effective July 16, 2026, follows full committee review of our study “Schistosomiasis from a One Health Perspective (SCOPE): Implementing diagnostic, educational, and environmental interventions in rural Ogun State, Nigeria”, the nine-month study now getting under way. Dr. Tope Olubodun, a public-health physician at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, leads regulatory oversight and research ethics for SCOPE.
The conditions we work under
An approval letter is short, but it carries real obligations. Here’s what the committee requires of us:
What the approval requires
Every form carries the number
All informed-consent forms and questionnaires must carry the committee’s assigned reference number.
No changes without review
Changes to the research aren’t permitted without the committee’s prior approval.
Open to monitoring
The committee reserves the right to monitor the study without prior notice.
A one-year window
All data collection must be completed within twelve months, with a progress report and an abstract submitted back to the committee.
Ethics and safety on the ground
Approval is the floor, not the ceiling. Here’s how the protocol plays out in the communities we work with:
How we work
Consent comes first
Participation is voluntary, with informed consent.
WHO guidelines
All diagnosis for prevalence assessments, and all treatment, follows WHO guidelines.
Community permission
During fieldwork we ask every community leader for permission, communicating through community liaisons known as community mobilizers.
Trained and tested
Community health workers are trained by our team in diagnosis, and passed an accuracy test before the study started.
Supervised treatment
Ministry of Health staff supervise throughout, so praziquantel is ready for every positive case.
Media releases
Signed for every 2026 photograph and video of anyone represented.
This is our second time through this committee. Our 2025 pilot, the study that screened 418 people around the Oyan River Dam, was approved in June 2025, after we shared the protocol submission openly. We’ll keep doing it that way.
Thank you to Dr. Tope Olubodun, to the members of the Ogun State Health Research Ethics Committee, and to the Ogun State Ministry of Health.
Open protocols, open results
We committed from day one to sharing our protocols and findings openly — including the results of this study, whatever they show.
