Michael Fuchs National ethics councils - Deutscher Ethikrat

Michael Fuchs National ethics councils. Their backgrounds, functions and modes of operation compared
Korea
South Korea plans to establish a permanent national ethics council. The preliminary
work on this project is one of the tasks currently assigned to an ad hoc bioethics advisory
commission appointed by the Minister of Science and Technology. The
group’s overall mandate is to arrive at a consensus and to draw up guidelines on the
handling of bioethics issues arising in Korea as a result of the rapid development of
the life sciences. In particular, the commission is required to prepare a proposed
framework for legislation, to sketch out the functions and mode of formation of the
national ethics committee, to define limits for research on human embryos, cloning
and the use of genetic transformation, and to specify the permissible scope of genetic
intervention and enhancement, the use of human genetic information and the
patenting of the results of genetic research.
According to information supplied by the Korean Bioethics Association, the KBA
itself plays a significant part in this aspect of the commission’s work. The KBA, established
in 1998, has 150 members drawn from the disciplines of philosophy, medicine,
law, sociology and biology, as well as representatives of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).
The Korean National Commission for UNESCO has already held two consensus
conferences in the country. Along the lines of the Danish Technology Council, citizens’
groups were set up in 1998 to discuss the safety and ethics of genetically modified
foods. A second consensus process, on the application of cloning in humans and
animals, followed from March to September 1999.
Website
KBA: http://www.koreabioethics.net
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Singapore
One of the world’s most astonishing national ethics bodies is Singapore’s Bioethics
Advisory Committee (BAC). Its foundation was closely bound up with the Government’s
declared aspiration to make Singapore a leading centre of research in the biosciences.
Under the Government’s programme, research and development are
supposed to cover the entire range from clinical trials to the production and dissemination
of healthcare services and drugs. In December 2000 the Committee was initially
appointed for a two-year period to address the potential ethical, legal and social
issues arising out of the intensification of biomedical sciences research. The Committee
will submit its recommendations to the Life Sciences Ministerial Committee.
In June 2002, the Committee published its first report: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues
in Human Stem Cell Research, Reproductive and Therapeutic Cloning. Subject to
certain conditions, the Committee considers research involving human embryonic
stem cells to be legitimate. In particular, it calls for the establishment of a supervisory
authority in accordance with the British model. The Committee’s second report –
Human Tissue Research – which was devoted to tissue banks, followed in November of
the same year. It too stresses the importance of a clear licensing procedure, and insists
on the principle of informed consent.
The Committee has a website of its own, on which the complete text of its reports
can be accessed. Its electronic newsletter is also available for subscription. Published
for the first time in April 2003, it reports on the work of the Committee and its Secretariat,
on conferences and the like organized by the Committee and on visits from
international bioethics experts.
Another Singaporean body is the Health Ministry’s National Medical Ethics
Committee (NMEC). This has existed since 1994 and includes experts in medical disciplines
and health policy, lay individuals and representatives of the ethnic minorities.
It has published guidelines on organ and tissue transplantation, on the
termination of pregnancy in the event of lethal malformations of the fetus, on the
medical treatment of high-risk infants, on research on human subjects, on psychiatry,
on ethical issues of gene technology (2/2001) and on financial issues in medical
practice (1/2000).
Website
BAC: http://www.bioethics-singapore.org
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