Informed Consent in Africa

To the Editor: IJsselmuiden and Faden (March 19 issue)¹ describe a paper by one of us² as implying that there is only one African culture and that that culture is static. The paper does not make these claims. Rather, the paper is premised on two basic sociological principles: first, although culture is multiform, peoples with common traditions in an area such as Central Africa share certain values, beliefs, symbols, and rituals of overriding importance,³ and second, although culture is plastic and variable, it does not change rapidly or rampantly. We therefore do not consider the data cited in the Christakis…