Global Bioethics: The Impact of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee


Book Description

The UNESCO International Bioethics Committee is an international body that sets standards in the field of bioethics. This collection represents the contributions of the IBC to global bioethics. The IBC is a body of 36 independent experts that follows progress in the life sciences and its applications in order to ensure respect for human dignity and freedom. Currently, some of the topics of the IBC contributions have been discussed in the bioethics literature, mostly journal articles. However, this is a unique contribution by the scholars who developed these universal declarations and reports. The contributors have not only provided a scholarly up to date discussion of their research topics, but as members of the IBC they have also discussed specific practical challenges in the development of such international documents. This book will be suited to academics within bioethics, health care policy and international law.




Global Bioethics: What for?


Book Description

Through the experiences of each of the authors, specialists from all over the world, men and women who have contributed to the Bioethics Programme of UNESCO, here are thirty articles of four pages each providing us with many accessible definitions of bioethics and its use. This book is just one of the ways in which the Programme is celebrating its twenty years of existence. The reader will find thought-provoking ideas with regard to philosophical concepts and attributes of bioethics, its normative interest and fields of application, and the challenges it faces. Authors such as Daniel Callahan, Michále Stanton-Jean, Federico Mayor, Juliana Gonzâlez, Michael Kirby, Mary Rawlinson, Henk ten Have or Vasil Gluchman talk of UNESCO's Programme's history and the benefits it provides and they debate which is the best framework for its future in terms of values, procedures, principles and policies. It is through bioethical discernment, with its complexity, cultural diversity, social differentiation and economic inequality that answers can be found, with our feet planted in local history but our sights set on the holistic horizon.







The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights


Book Description

In October 2005, UNESCO Member States adopted by acclamation the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. For the first time in the history of bioethics, some 190 countries committed themselves and the international community to respect and apply fundamental ethical principles related to medicine, the life sciences and associated technologies. This publication provides a new impetus to the dissemination of the Declaration, and is part of the organisation's continuous effort to contribute to the understanding of its principles worldwide. The authors, who were almost all involved in the elaboration of the text of the Declaration, were asked to respond on each article: Why was it included? What does it mean? How can it be applied? Their responses shed light on the historical background of the text and its evolution throughout the drafting process. They also provide a reflection on its relevance to previous declarations and bioethical literature, and its potential interpretation and application in challenging and complex bioethical debates.
















Proceedings


Book Description