MR.SA 2008 Finalist Helgard Marais: CAB - Community Advisory Board

The Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), based in a poor urban setting in Soweto South Africa, undertakes a wide range of HIV Prevention and Treatment Research. A Community Advisory Board (CAB) has been in place for several years, concerned mainly with HIV vaccine and prevention activities. With the implementation of a wider range of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and HIV Treatment Research Programs, there has been a need to build community involvement on treatment research issues.

As it is imperative to have community involvement in research issues, I volunteered to drive the recruitment, establishment, training and have set up of such a community based board. Initial consultations were held with over 300 organizations and local stakeholders, representative of different age groups, gender and race. 20 Formal Community members were elected by the community to be part of this board to serve as an intermediate body between the community and the research scientists.

Through the establishment of this dynamic group I have learnt that an interactive consultation and election process can result in an engaging and enthusiastic CAB.

Intensive initial education was required on research issues, as most of the individuals concerned had no exposure to the research environment. Acknowledgement of the voluntary nature of the CAB and the requirement for appropriate reimbursement for transport and similar costs is necessary in low-resource settings to enable truly representative participation. Over the past 4 years, I have ensured the development and training of these members, their active participation in their communities as a result of their input towards scientific research.