Michael Fuchs National ethics councils - Deutscher Ethikrat

Michael Fuchs National ethics councils. Their backgrounds, functions and modes of operation compared
India
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is one of the world’s oldest state institutions
for the promotion and coordination of medical research. In 1996 the
ICMR appointed a Central Ethical Committee to consider a number of bioethical issues.
In addition to epidemiological research and clinical trials of products for human
use, the field of competence of the Committee extends from organ
transplantation to human genetics. In 2000, the ICMR published ethical guidelines
for biomedical research on human subjects.
The Committee is also responsible for bilateral exchanges with foreign delegations.
In March 2002 it organized the first German-Indian workshop on bioethics at
Lonavalle, near Mumbai. In January 2003 a course on the political implications of
genome research was held in Kumarakom, Kerala, attended by scientists not only
from India but also from the University of Toronto.
Website
ICMR: http://www.icmr.nic.in
Bibliography
Fuchs, M. (2001). Bioethik in Indien. IWE-Informationsbrief 1: 1 – 2.
ICMR (2000). Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects. New Delhi.
Available online at: http://icmr.nic.in/ethical.pdf
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VI. Australia and New Zealand
Australia
The Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) was founded in 1992. It is one of
the committees of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The composition and mission of the Committee are laid down in the NHMRC Act
of 1992. It is required to include experts in philosophy, the ethics of medical research,
public health and social science research, clinical medical practice and nursing, disability,
law, religion and health consumer issues. An important function is the discussion
of general ethical issues arising from medical research on human subjects.
The Council is also required to stimulate the general debate on ethical issues in healthcare.
The AHEC has drawn up guidelines not only on ethical considerations in research
involving human subjects but also on cloning, human genetics and animal ethics.
Independently of the Research Council, a multidisciplinary, 12-member National
Bioethics Consultative Committee was formed as long ago as in 1988. Its brief was to
act as an autonomous advisory body for the Conference of Health Ministers, and it
concerned itself mainly with issues of medically assisted reproduction. Byk/Mémeteau
(1996, 275) report that, according to the Australian press, this body was superseded by
the Research Council’s Committee because its position was felt to be too liberal.
Website
AHEC: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/ethics/human/ahec
Bibliography
Byk, Chr.; Mémeteau, G. (1996). Le droit des comités d’éthique (Collection “Médecine et droit”). Paris.
Chalmers, D. (1996). Statement of Donald Chalmers. In: National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC);
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (ed.). The International Summit of National Bioethics Advisory Bodies […]
San Francisco, California […] Thursday, November 21, 1996 […]: 50 – 56. Available online at:
http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/nbac/transcripts/1996/11-21-96.pdf
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