The Asia Pacific Bioethics Program of the Unesco Chair in Bioethics (original) (raw)

Human Dignity, Bioethics, and Human Rights

Developing World Bioethics, 2005

The authors analyse and assess the Universal Draft Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights published by UNESCO. They argue that the Draft has two main weaknesses. It unnecessarily confines the scope of bioethics to life sciences and their practical applications. And it fails to spell out the intended role of human dignity in international ethical regulation. The Universal Draft Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (UDDBHR) 1 published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a laudable attempt to bring into focus the ethical issues surrounding developments in the life sciences and their practical use. These advances and the ensuing technological applications require new responses on local, regional, national, and international levels. The UDDBHR can be seen as one important international reaction to them, and UNESCO rightly states that ethical considerations are important in this process and that bioethics education and training is a key to progress in this area. In the article on ethics committees, we are especially happy to see that the duty to foster debate and education in bioethics is firmly rooted in pluralism-the right of different groups to hold and voice different views on what is good and right and morally important. 2 We have three major comments on the approach chosen by UNESCO. These are:

Global Bioethics at UNESCO: In Defence of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights

Journal of Medical Ethics, 2007

This paper argues in support of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights adopted by UNESCO on 19 October 2005. As a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (IBC), the author was involved in the drafting of this instrument. Drawing on this experience, he gives an overview of the principal features of the Declaration before responding to two general charges that have been levelled at UNESCO’s bioethical activities and at this particular document. One criticism is to the effect that UNESCO is exceeding its mandate by drafting such bioethical instruments – in particular, the charge is that it is trespassing on a field that lies within the responsibility of the WHO. The second criticism is that UNESCO’s reliance on a human rights framework is inappropriate.

First UNESCO Bangkok Bioethics Roundtable (BBRT1) Abstracts

2005

The purpose of this meeting is to engage in an interactive dialogue over the priorities for bioethics and ethics of science and technology in Asia and the Pacific, with global implications. How can we apply bioethics declarations and international agreements to enhance the realities of communities across a divided and diverse world? As we develop networks of researchers and policymakers we are bringing together persons from over 30 countries and a wide range of specialties for this roundtable as a further step in the reflection and action on ethics of science and technology.

The Problems of Human Dignity and Human Rights in the Context of Bioethics

WISDOM, 2018

The article presents an analysis of the principles of human dignity and human rights from the viewpoint of bioethics, describes the development and modifications of the concepts of-human dignity‖ and-human rights‖ in different historical stages. The authors offer detailed observation of these principles in order to have a complete and true perception of this problem and realise the role and value of these principles in the contemporary world and human relationships. For the implementation of abovementioned purposes, the paper deals with different international documents and declarations: the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, the Nuremberg Code, the Declaration of Helsinki, the Declaration of Geneva, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the WMA Declaration of Lisbon on the rights of the patient and the Convention of Human Rights and Biomedicine.

Human dignity and human rights as a common ground for a global bioethics

Journal of Medicine & Philosophy, 2009

The principle of respect for human dignity plays a crucial role in the emerging global norms relating to bioethics, in particular in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. Although this Declaration does not explicitly define human dignity, it would be a mistake to see the emphasis put on this notion as a mere rhetorical strategy. Rather, it reflects a real concern about the need to promote respect both for the intrinsic worth of human beings and for the integrity of the human species in the biomedical field. But dignity alone cannot solve most of the dilemmas posed by biomedical practice. This is why international biolaw combines, on the one hand, the appeal to human dignity as an overarching principle with, on the other hand, the recourse to human rights, which provide an effective and practical way forward for dealing with bioethical issues at a global level.

Bioethics in the Contemporary Global Paradigm

Introduction In the realm of health care, health science and health policy there is definite need for a shared reflection in relation to maintaining an ethical standard of health provision and also most importantly in the area of research and development, the subject of bioethics holds an imperative position (Center for Ethics and Humanities in Life Sciences, Michigan State University 2014). Bioethics involves a reflective process where the existing standard of ethical protocol is deliberated upon by the scientific community, along with the health care recipient population, general public, academia, media, political fronts, civil society groups, religious groups and any other concerned forum or individuals. It should be an inclusive process aiming at achieving the highest standard of ethics possible and the dissemination of knowledge to understand and deal with the nature of an ethical concern or issue becomes preliminary to its objective of achieving the highest standard of ethical practice. The availability of such a neutral space where the deliberation on ethical issues concerning health care, medical research and health policy is mostly a challenge as the authority of the scientific world over the general public usually dominates decision-making processes. Despite such power struggles in determining the highest standard of ethical practice, the discourse on bioethics in the present times have gained currency and the involvement of several pressure groups and vigilant civil society organizations have made the engagement more vibrant and organic with people‘s voices reaching the policy spaces especially through media and

Bioethics in Correlation with the Principle of Human Dignity

Juridiskā zinātne, 2020

The modern science is offering to expand opportunities open to a person, for example, to improve a person's intellectual abilities, to cure the incurable or to prolong lives by such manipulations that were not available before. Legal solutions to these problems cannot be found without the discourse on bioethics. Bioethics pertains to a number of issues that are of vital importance for society, for example, euthanasia, organ transplants, reproductive medicine, the limits and methods of patient care. All principles of bioethics have been created to protect the human being. In this respect, bioethical requirements correlate with a person's fundamental rights and legally they should be examined within the scope of human dignity. The implementation of scientific findings in the society is strictly limited by fundamental human rights. The constitutional courts, abiding by the bioethical principles, should provide the balance between the person's own responsibility with that of the State regarding respecting the human dignity and retaining humanity also in the age of technologies.