Open for
signature from 1 March 2002
Initial
Signatories to the Eubios Declaration
and Comments (June 2002)
[The Eubios Ethics Institute and the Tsukuba Bioethics Roundtable Declaration
on International Bioethics]
Preamble
The life and medical sciences present many important educational, ethical,
legal and social issues, which need to be considered at local, national and
international levels. Following the closure of the Seventh International
Tsukuba Bioethics Roundtable (TRT7), and the discussion at the preceding six
TRT meetings, and consistent with the stated goals of the Eubios Journal of
Asian and International Bioethics (EJAIB) and the decade of debate that has
appeared in EJAIB, the members of Eubios Ethics Institute, and the further
undersigned persons, wish to highlight the following principles for international
bioethics:
Descriptions of Bioethics
1. Bioethics is an interdisciplinary field that needs to be nourished by debate
among all disciplines and people, not limited to any academic specialty or
professionals.
2. There are a variety of definitions of bioethics, and this variety is part of
the intrinsic value of the field of bioethics. We consider bioethics to be the
process of reflection over ethical issues raised in our relationships with
other living organisms; the consideration of the ethical issues in spheres
including environmental ethics, health care ethics, social ethics, and in the
use of technologies that affect life; and the love of life.
3. Bioethics has grown rapidly throughout the world, and should play a central
role in professional and public discussions and debates, and bioethical issues
feature prominently in legal, medical, scientific, and policy agendas
worldwide.
4. Bioethical principles proposed by bioethicists may vary in their number,
names, and organization, yet sufficient convergence exists to allow us to
endorse the ethical values of respect for persons, doing good (beneficence),
doing no harm (non-maleficence), and justice. Moreover, the virtues of the
moral agent and his/her relationship to others and the environment are emphasized.
The examination of these principles is part of bioethics.
5. There are different ways to view bioethics and in discussions of bioethics
we should be clear which approach we are addressing. These include:
Descriptive bioethics is the understanding the way people view life, their
ethical interactions and responsibilities with living organisms in their life.
Prescriptive bioethics or normative bioethics examines what is ethically good
or bad, or what principles are most important in making such decisions. It may
also be to inquire into when to say something or someone has rights, and others
have duties to them.
When one person tells another what is ethically good or bad they are
prescribing bioethics. If prescriptive bioethics leads to paternalistic elitism,
then we reject it.
6. There are at least two essential approaches to bioethics:
Interactive bioethics is discussion and debate between people, groups within
society, and communities about descriptive and prescriptive bioethics.
Practical bioethics is action to make the world more bioethical, for example,
health projects for medically deprived populations, and environmental activism.
Personal and Global Bioethics
7. Every person has a lifelong responsibility to develop his or her own
bioethical maturity[rw1] and values. We could define bioethical maturity as the
ability to balance the benefits and risks of ethical choices, considering the
parties involved and the consequences. At the societal level, public policy and
law need to be developed, which requires a social mechanism for balancing
conflicting ethical principles.
8. International cross-cultural bioethics should be developed, including
studies and discussions, which respect individual cultures as long as they do
not conflict with fundamental human rights, as outlined in the United Nations
Declaration of Human Rights. Nations and members of every society (communities)
should honestly reflect on the bioethical lessons of the past. Honest
reflection on the bioethical lessons of the past should be encouraged together
with efforts to promote reconciliation on all levels.
9. Research on the thinking and reasoning of all people should be more
emphasized in order to understand the diversity of people's thinking. This is
necessary for determining the degree of universality that is possible, and
should be used to complement other research approaches in bioethics. There is
no inherent reason to believe a priori that the views of one person are
intrinsically more valuable than another, based on gender, age, educational
background, physical, mental, or psychological condition or life experience.
10. Such ethical understanding is necessary to develop international
cross-cultural bioethics, and no one culture should claim to be the dominant
source of the concept of bioethics.
Freedom of dialogue
11. Freedom of discussion is necessary for bioethical reflection and an
essential feature of democratic life. We uphold the value of free, open and
reasoned discussion, so that any position is worthy of consideration. In public
discourse, no individual or group can claim to have exclusive knowledge of the
right ethical solution. Only open discussion can lead to justifiable
conclusions.
12. All nations and communities are encouraged to vigilantly defend the basic
freedom of open discussion and disagreement. Often, this freedom is imperiled
and there is widespread reluctance to discuss problems openly, the reasoned
solution of which may run counter to received opinions and traditions.
Life as a Whole
13. We recognize the dependence of all life (biota) on intact, functioning
ecosystems, and the essential services that ecosystems provide. We urge action
to halt environmental damage by humans that reduces biodiversity or degrades
ecosystem processes.
14. Whereas wildlife provide numerous free services that make our life possible
and pleasant, cleaning the air, water, and the soil of pollutants, providing
food, medicines and a beautiful place to live, wildlife are in grave danger
from the loss of habitat, the spread of exotic species, pollution, and direct
consumption by humans. Wildlife often cannot protect themselves from humans, so
without our help they cannot survive. The presence of humans greatly reduces
the usefulness of a habitat to wildlife. Wildlife reserves act as sources for
replenishing our supplies of animals and plants. Therefore, we urge all nations
and peoples to make the protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat a top
priority. In particular we urge them to set aside a large portion of their
territory, interconnected by the wildlife travel corridors, for the exclusive
use of wildlife, off limits to humans.
Intellectual Property
15. We believe that life is the common heritage of life, and no one group of
persons can claim to own a living organism so as to stop others growing similar
organisms.
16. No part of the human body (DNA, gametes, genes, cells, tissues or organs)
should be exploited as a source of profit. We oppose exploiting people from
some countries or groups to do things that are unacceptable in other countries,
for example trade in human organs, unethical or dangerous drug trials, or
dumping of hazardous wastes, including nuclear wastes.
Technology assessment
17. We applaud the development of science and technology if for the betterment
of all, and urge the better sharing of the benefits of technology with all.
Practical methods for appropriate technology (both new and traditional)
transfer should be effected, together with mechanisms to assess the cultural,
environmental, ethical, social and health impacts of such technology.
Encouraging simpler technologies can often be preferable to transfer of
advanced scientific technology.
18. In particular, we call upon all those in the research community to use any
appropriate technology to reduce the burden of diseases and afflictions, both
mental and physical, that afflict persons in all societies, and in particular
in developing and least developed countries.
19. We do not think that any one technology with the same general goals, like
feeding hungry people or curing a given individual patient, should be singled
out for more critical examination, rather that bioethical principles should be
applied to protect the interests of living organisms today, and the future
generations.
Ethics Committees and Consent
20. In order to effect this, ethics committees with full community and ethnic
representation, for the purpose of reviewing research proposals, and monitoring
the impact of science and technology, should be established immediately.
21. In principle, all research on humans that has the rational potential to
harm should be validated by the documented, informed consent from competent
participants, which is voluntary and noncoerced. There are important issues to
discuss regarding consent from communities, and we urge further study on these
issues. We must devote more research to the topic of research on human subjects
who lack the capacity for fully informed consent, such as in pediatric and
psychiatric medicine.
Human reproduction and genetic heritage
22. Somatic cell gene therapy for treatment of disease is a useful medical
therapy and may be used when needed and chosen by patients. However, germ-line
gene therapy should not be attempted until it is technically safe, and a truly
international public consensus has been sought and achieved for what specific
cases would be considered ethical.
23. Therapeutic cloning, for example of tissues or organs, may be a useful
medical therapy and may be used when needed and chosen by patients. However,
human reproductive cloning should not be attempted until it is technically
safe, and a truly international public consensus has been sought and achieved
for what specific cases would be considered ethical.
Duties to all persons
23. We respect the life of all living organisms, When considering organisms we
have to think of not only those on the planet Earth now, those that will be
brought back to alive from the state of being extinct, those made in the future
through natural or deliberate creation, and those that exist in other places.
We should consider all persons, no matter their body or mental composition, for
their intrinsic value and not their makeup. Society should consider the use of
technology to reintroduce extinct species or introduce new species to the
ecosystem.
24. We urge reflection on the way that we will treat non-organic (e.g. robots)
or hybrid (e.g. cyborgs) persons, before they are made. All persons who work
towards the love of others should be valued as a member of the moral community.
Many persons in this world are not valued because of speciesism and we uphold
the rights of all Great Apes and other beings capable of loving others and
conscious thought.
Bioethics Education
25. To work towards a social consensus requires participation of informed
citizens, which requires education about issues of bioethical importance. We
applaud the public discussion on bioethics that has started to emerge in a
number of countries, but these efforts need further support.
26. In order to achieve the above goals, greater effort is required to educate
all members of society about the scientific and clinical background, and the
ethical principles and social and legal problems involved, in the life and
medical sciences. This will enable the active collaboration of all individual
members of society, many academic disciplines, and the international community.
27. Education of bioethics is to empower people to face ethical dilemmas.
Ethical challenges come to everyone. The process of debate and discussion is
important for developing good minds to face bioethical dilemmas. It also
develops tolerance and respect of others. In these troubled international
times, it is very important to develop tolerance of others, and to learn that
everyone as a human being is the same regardless of race, sex or religion. Same
in this sense means equally diverse, it does not mean identical.
28. The process of debate and discussion in classrooms is particularly valuable
and we urge all persons, organizations, institutions and countries to take
appropriate measures to promote the principles set out in the Declaration,
through promotion of education in bioethics.
A call to practical ethics now
29. States and institutions should take appropriate measures to encourage all
forms of research, training and information dissemination conducive to raising
the awareness of society and all of its members of their responsibilities
regarding the fundamental issues relating to bioethics, in an open
international discussion, ensuring the free expression of various socio-cultural,
religious and philosophical opinions.
30. These goals require the cooperation of all, particularly in those with more
resources, such as multinational corporations, and rich countries. We urge all
to work together for all.
Open to improvement and signature
31. We note that progress towards reflection of bioethics can be made by every
person, in both official and unofficial ways, and the undersigned endeavour to
help all who want to progress the development of bioethics through the social
network of members of the ever diverse, growing and non-exclusive Eubios
family.
32. This Declaration will be open to signature and text agreement until a
period two months after the publication of the draft Declaration in EJAIB
(March issue), when the Declaration will be published. Further persons and
organizations are welcome to endorse, second, or otherwise use the principles
in this Declaration to promote bioethics in the spirit of this Declaration.
This Declaration will also be known by its simple form, the Eubios Declaration
for International Bioethics. As knowledge and experience progress, this
Declaration will always be open to revision. We invite the world to
participate.
Declared on the 1 March 2002, and open to signature.
On-line at: http://eubios.info/eeidec.htm
Please return your comments and support by Email to:
Dr. Darryl Macer
Director, Eubios Ethics Institute, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand (Email < darryl@eubios.info
>. )
Published by the Eubios Ethics Institute. This file is on-line at
http://eubios.info/eeidec.htm"