A
draft universal declaration of bioethics will be discussed in Tehran,
Iran during the International Congress on Bioethics 2005 to be held
between March 26 and 28.
The
draft, prepared by UNESCO’s Division of Ethics of Science and
Technology, Social and Human Sciences Sector, focuses on ethics,
molecular biology and intellectual property rights; ethics, stem cell
research and tissue transplantation; modern gene technology and ethics
(including cloning); and ethics education.
In
response to a question from IslamOnline.net about the possibility of
arriving at a universal consensus on bioethics, Dr. Farahat Moazam,
Professor and Chairperson of the Center of Biomedical Ethics and
Culture in Pakistan said, “there are broad principles which
everybody can universally agree upon. However, when it comes to actual
application, other factors come in such as, indigenous values,
religious values and social economic realities”.
Dr.
Moazam further explained that “contemporary bioethics is secular and
philosophical. It derives the understanding of right and wrong from
human reason only. In reality, however, a majority of people of the
world use reason but also turn to religious values to help them decide
what is moral and ethical.”
Dr.
Moazam’s work has been concerned with bridging the gap between the
West and the East through bioethics. “What is important for us
Muslims is to find a balance between the two [contemporary bioethics
and religion] to help us guide ourselves ethically. It is important
for this part of the world [the East] to make more contribution in the
debate and discussion in contemporary bioethics. This will be a
benefit to people in the West and people in the East. We have to build
bridges between the East and the West and we can do that in bioethics.
We can learn from the West but we can also teach them. With knowledge
and science things only come from the West to the East. In the East we
have a lot to contribute.”
Speakers
at the conference will be from Canada, Italy, Morocco, India, France,
Spain, Sweden, Holland, Hungary, Pakistan, the Philippines, Australia,
Germany, Russia, America and Iran.
The
congress is organized by UNESCO, the Ministry of Science, Research and
Technology of Iran, National Research Center of Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology, Deputy for Research and Technology, Ministry of
Health, Treatment and Medical Education and the Ethics
Research Center and Medical History in Tehran's Medical Sciences
University.
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