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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. This instrument, which is a legal, not merely an ethical document, can be regarded as an extension of international human rights law into the field of biomedicine. Although the 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, the appeal to dignity 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. 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. Keywords: global bioethics, human dignity, human rights, international law, UNESCO

The following article, analyzes the process of conception, elaboration, and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights, and reflects on the lessons it might hold for public bioethics on the international level. The author was involved in the process at a variety of levels: he provided advice to the IBC on behalf of the President's Council of Bioethics; he served as the U.S. representative to UNESCO's Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee; and led the U.S. Delegation in the multilateral negotiation of Government experts that culminated in the adoption of the declaration in its final form. The author is currently serving a 4-year term as a member of UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee.

Rapid advances in biomedical science and technology, which have revolutionized medicine and health-care services in different societies, have been associated with inevitable ethical challenges. Undoubtedly, these innovations could lead to irreversible disasters if they are not limited by appropriate regulations. Substantial attempts have been made in the Islamic Republic of Iran to establish a structured approach for identifying, analysing and resolving ethical issues in clinical practice. Given the consensus of religious and scientific scholars, some laws recently approved by the parliament include the Deceased and Brain-Dead Patients Organ Transplantation Act (2000), Embryo Donation to Infertile Spouses Act (2003) and the Therapeutic Abortion Act (2005). National guidelines for ethical assessment and supervision of research proposals have also been compiled by the authorities. This paper reviews the main endeavours made in bioethics legislation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Les progres rapides des sciences et des technologies biomedicales, qui ont revolutionne les services medicaux et les prestations de soins de sante dans differentes societes, s'accompagnent de difficultes ethiques inevitables. Il indubitable que ces innovations pourraient conduire a des desastres irreversibles si elles ne sont pas encadrees par des reglementations appropriees. Des efforts substantiels ont ete consentis en Republique islamique d'Iran pour tenter d'etablir une approche structuree permettant d'identifier, d'analyser et de resoudre les questions ethiques posees par la pratique clinique. Compte tenu du consensus atteint entre les specialistes religieux et scientifiques, le parlement a recemment approuve un certain nombre de lois, dont celle sur la transplantation d'organes provenant de patients decedes ou en etat de mort cerebrale (2000), celle sur le don d'embryons aux epouses steriles (2003) et celle sur l'avortement therapeutique (2005). Les autorites ont egalement elabore des recommandations nationales concernant l'evaluation et la supervision ethiques des projets de recherche. Le present article passe en revue les principaux efforts de la Republique islamique d'Iran pour legiferer dans le domaine bioethique. Los rapidos avances registrados en el terreno de la ciencia y la tecnologia biomedicas, que han revolucionado la medicina y la atencien sanitaria en diferentes sociedades, han traido consigo inevitablemente diversos retos eticos. No cabe duda de que esas innovaciones pueden provocar desastres irreversibles si no se limitan con las medidas regulatorias oportunas. En la Republica Islamica del Iran se han dado pasos importantes para establecer un sistema estructurado que permita identificar, analizar y resolver los aspectos eticos de la practica clinica. Gracias al consenso de expertos religiosos y cientificos, entre las leyes recientemente aprobadas pot el parlamento figuran la Ley de trasplante de erganos de fallecidos y pacientes con muerte cerebral (2000), la Ley de donacien de embriones para cenyuges infertiles (2003) y la Ley de aborto terapeutico (2005). Las autoridades han recopilado ademas directrices nacionales para la evaluacien y supervisien etica de las propuestas de investigacien. A Io largo del articulo se analizan las principales iniciativas emprendidas en materia de legislacien bioetica en la Republica Islamica del Iran., Introduction In recent decades, great attention has been paid to ethical issues as an inevitable consequence of emerging biomedical advances. There have been ever-increasing discussions about ethical aspects of this [...]

Author(s): Mark Zastrow More than a decade after a http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051219/full/news051219-3.html , scientists in the field are ramping up pressure on the government to relax the country's strict regulations on human-embryo [...]

In the 1976 novel The Boys from Brazil, (1) the infamous Nazi concentration camp doctor, Josef Mengele, who disappeared after World War II, never to be found, has created ninety-four [...]

INTRODUCTION The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most important players in the field of clinical research on human beings. Increasingly in recent years, "Big Pharma" in the United States [...]

An increasing number of product claims about food animal welfare or well-being have appeared in the global food industry and global market in recent years. These claims have significant consequences for producers, processors, transporters, retailers, consumers, and the animals themselves. Furthermore, recent restructuring of the global food industry has altered the power relationships of various actors. Regulation of the industry is moving toward greater private control, and the power of retailers has dramatically increased. The changing structure of the industry carries implications both in terms of how standards are created and in terms of the types of standards themselves. The purpose of this article is to provide a greater understanding of how these product claims are made, their implications, and the challenges they present. Key words: bioethics, label, trade

Concerns about farm animal welfare vary among individuals and societies. As people increasingly consider the values underlying current farm animal production methods, farm animal welfare policy debates have escalated. Recent food animal protection policies enacted in the European Union have fueled highly contentious discussions about the need for similar legislative activity in the United States. Policymakers and scientists in the United States are apprehensive about the scientific assessment, validation, and monitoring of animal welfare, as well as the unforeseen consequences of moving too hastily toward legislating farm animal welfare. The potential impact of such legislation on producers, food prices, animals, and concerned citizens must also be considered. Balancing the interests of all stakeholders has therefore presented a considerable challenge that has stymied US policymaking. In this review, we examine the roles of ethics and science in policy decisions, discuss how scientific knowledge relative to animal behavior has been incorporated into animal welfare policy, and identify opportunities for additional refinement of animal welfare science that may facilitate ethical and policy decisions about animal care. Key words: animal welfare, behavior, bioethics, legislation

I. INTRODUCTION The more we learn the less we understand. This truism haunts and inspires my teaching of bioethics, particularly when the discussion turns to matters of assisted reproduction. In [...]

I. INTRODUCTION The science of assisted reproductive technologies often evolves more rapidly than social acceptance for the treatments developed. This can lead to ethical dilemmas for the health care team, [...]

The discussion on ethical issues, it is said, should not be confined to experts but should be extended to patients and local communities, because of the real need to engage stakeholders and non-stakeholders alike not only in carrying out any biomedical research project, but also in the drafting and legislation of bioethics instruments. Several local and inter-country consultations have already been conducted in furtherance of this goal, but there is much left to be desired in them. The consultations may have helped in articulating local principles, but not in making the instruments embody these principles. As such, instruments turn incompossible, i.e. the principles and actions they legitimate are not performable. In an ethnographic study conducted in the Philippines, for example, paragraphs 29 and 30 of the Declaration of Helsinki and CIOMS guidelines 8 and 15 are construed as not only contradictory to one another but also to local principles. This problem can be solved by taking deliberate steps to ensure that consultations are grounded in ethnographic data about local principles, which the instruments would embody. A steering committee can be of help in gathering ethnographic data, in conducting consultations at the local level, and in providing a venue for discourse on various bioethical issues.

One of the most common criticisms of informed consent to research is that the subjects have been 'coerced' into participating in clinical studies. Discussion of 'coercion' is common in scholarly [...]

In American law school classrooms, we have a phenomenon that I expect you experience here in Italy as well. The professor asks a question and the student attempts to avoid [...]

INTRODUCTION The scientific progress of the last thirty years has opened up new doors in many different fields, such as reproduction (for example, in vitro fertilization and cloning), organ transplants, [...]

Contemporary ethical and legal norms hold that all human beings born alive should be treated equally, regardless of disability. Yet there is a strong sense that some lives are so [...]

Author(s): David Archard, Peter Dabrock, Jean-François Delfraissy Author Affiliations: Human-genome editing: ethics councils call to governments worldwide As leaders of the national ethics committees of France and Germany, and of [...]

A major focus within the modern bioethics debate has been on reshaping power relationships within the doctorupatient relationship. Empowerment of the vulnerable has been achieved through an emphasis on human rights and respect for individual dignity. However, power imbalances remain pervasive within healthcare. To a considerable extent this relates to insufficient attention to social injustice. Such power imbalances together with the development of new forms of power, for example through new genetic biotechnology, raise the spectre of increasing social injustice. Attention will be drawn to the need to extend the bioethics debate to include ethical considerations regarding public health. Changes in political philosophy will also be required to reshape international power relations and improve population health.