Training Materials

Coming soon!  The STRATEGIC training materials are being finalised and will be available here in the coming months — stay tuned.

This training is designed to equip researchers, ethics committees, regulators, and other stakeholders with practical tools to navigate the complex ethical challenges of Digital Health Technologies (DHTs) in sub-Saharan Africa.

What is the STRATEGIC training?

Digital health innovations can transform healthcare and research, but they also raise important ethical questions about access, fairness, privacy, and sustainability. The STRATEGIC training translates these challenges into practical guidance, helping participants make informed, context-sensitive decisions.

At the heart of the training is the 5C Framework, which supports ethical review and governance across the full lifecycle of digital health innovation:

• Context – understanding where and for whom technologies operate

• Care & Compassion – safeguarding dignity, wellbeing, and participant safety

• Collaboration – promoting inclusive partnerships and shared ownership

• Compliance – ensuring transparency, accountability, and regulatory alignment

• Continuity – supporting sustainability, oversight, and long-term benefit

The framework is anchored in decoloniality as trustworthiness, emphasising the importance of shifting power, data, and benefits towards African institutions and communities while fostering fairness, inclusion, and respect.

Who is the training for?

The STRATEGIC training is primarily designed for:

• Members of National Ethics Committees (NECs)

• National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs)

It is equally relevant for a broader ecosystem of stakeholders involved in digital health innovation and oversight, including:

• • Researchers and clinicians

  • Technicians and technology developers

  • Policy makers and public health actors

  • Patient advocates and community representatives

  • Trainers and capacity-building institutions

  • Interested professionals and citizens seeking to strengthen ethical competence

By engaging multiple perspectives, the training supports both individual ethical capacity and institutional embedding of responsible review practices.

What makes this training distinctive?

The STRATEGIC training moves beyond abstract ethics. It is:

Case-based and practice-oriented – Participants work with realistic scenarios reflecting ethical tensions encountered in real-world research.

Designed for professionals – Exercises promote critical reasoning, stakeholder analysis, governance decision-making, and translation into SOPs and review questions.

Flexible and modular – Materials can be delivered as full trainings, individual modules, or standalone micromodules depending on context and time.

Applicable across the innovation lifecycle – From study design to post-approval oversight.

Grounded in African contexts – Incorporating local knowledge, social structures, and infrastructural realities.

Training Structure

The STRATEGIC training package includes:

• Trainer Handbook – A practical guide supporting planning, facilitation, and adaptation to diverse audiences.

• Introduction Module – Establishes the ethical landscape of DHTs and introduces the 5C Framework.

• Five thematic Modules, each aligned with one dimension of the 5C Framework.

• Fifteen Micromodules exploring specific ethical challenges through structured learning cards that combine objectives, case analyses, exercises, role-model insights, and further readings.

• Glossary of key terms and Digital Health Technologies.

Each micromodule integrates self-paced and group-based learning options, enabling both individual reflection and collective ethical deliberation while supporting institutional uptake.

Languages and Access

The STRATEGIC training materials will be freely available in English, French, and Portuguese on this page and via additional learning platforms (details to follow).