The African student of medicine is often placed in a difficult situation as regards ethical systems, for he inherits a local system of ethics and has usually had a Western system superimposed upon him. Moreover he faces ethical problems different from those of his American or European counterpart—problems concerning organ transplantation or human experimentation are of less consequence than clashes between conflicting loyalties.From his many years of experience in Africa, Dr Stanley Browne, now Director of the Leprosy Study Centre in London, discusses with sympathy and understanding the problems of his young African colleagues.