To the Editor: Spriggs and Gillam1 recently evaluated the updated guidance on ethical conduct in human research from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC),2 with particular reference to paediatric consent. The introduction in 2007 of the National Ethics Application Form (NEAF; http://www.neaf.gov.au) represented an attempt to streamline the process of obtaining ethics approval from multiple human research ethics committees (HRECs) for multicentre research.
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- 1 Sydney Children’s Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
- 2 School of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
- 1. Spriggs MP, Gillam LH. Consent in paediatric research: an evaluation of the guidance provided in the 2007 NHMRC National statement on ethical conduct in human research. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 360-362. <MJA full text>
- 2. National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, and Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee. National statement on ethical conduct in human research. Canberra: NHMRC, 2007. http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/_files/e72.pdf (accessed Jun 2008).
- 3. General Assembly of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). London: The Stationery Office, 1996.