CAIRO,
December 15 (IslamOnline.net) - The Eighth Conference of the Islamic
Organization for Medical Sciences wrapped up here Tuesday, December
14, by endorsing the draft of the first international ethical
guideline of medical sciences from an Islamic perspective.
Titled
“The International Islamic Code for Medical and Health Ethics,”
the code’s draft will be reviewed, edited and then issued in its
final form by the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS).
The
code idea dates back to 1981 when the IOMS took the initiative of
adopting the Islamic Document for Medical Ethics in a Kuwait
conference “to keep human knowledge on the proper track prescribed
by God as He declared Man as His viceroy on this planet.”
It
is, in effect, the brainchild of Dr. Hassan Hathout, a leading board
member of the IOMS.
The
four-day conference, opened Saturday, December 11, was
organized by the IOMS in co-operation with the Islamic Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Council for
International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), Ajman
University Network and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The
Cairo-based World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean
Regional Office played host to the conference.
The
event brought together a host of Muslim figures, including Sheikh
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Haytham Al-Khayat, a WHO advisor and an IOMS’s
board member, and Head of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional
Office Dr. Hussein Al-Gaza'ry.
Curricula
In
order to further develop and empower the code to put it into practice,
14 recommendations were issued at the closing session.
Chief
among which was a call to the ministers of education, the deans of
medical schools in the Arab and Muslim world to integrate the
yet-to-be approved code into their curricula.
Another
proposal called for posting the planned code on the web sites of all
medical institutions that pay due attention to ethics.
The
code is not only for professionals but for “the people, the family
and society,” Dr. Mu'men S. Hadidi, head of the National Institute
of Forensic Medicine in Jordan, told the gathering.
The
WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office is further implored to
work in tandem with the ministries of health in the region to set up
ad hoc committees to follow up issues pertaining to medical and health
ethics.
Additionally,
the IOMS has been urged first to prepare a workshop to explore how can
the new code come into fruition and second to distribute copies of the
code to all health-care professionals.
Research
Fund
 |
|
Dr. Hussein Al-Gaza'ry addresses the gathering
|
Dr.
Abd Al-Rahman El-Awady, IOMS head, further suggested establishing an
Islamic fund to support medical research in the Muslim world.
For
his part, head of the Ajman University Network, Dr. Saed Salman,
called for holding a conference on the ethical issues related to the
pharmaceutical industry and drug research.
The
conference has further discussed the doctor-patient relationship
including medical practices, obligations and responsibilities, as well
as biomedical
research involving human subjects and the Islamic
ruling on pressing medical questions.
The
physicians and scholars have also touched on various sensitive issues,
including surrogate mothers, determining a baby’s sex and
euthanasia.
