It takes no special perceptive skill to recognise that the human being is flesh, mind, spirit and energy. When the health of a person requires medical attention, human values should be well respected in the process. Such were the words of Dr Peter Singer of Toronto University, delivered at a gathering of notables in the field of medicine and medical ethics at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) last month. For his part, the distinguished Egyptian-born heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub pointed out that it is the role of medical ethics to bridge scientific innovation and humanitarian values. He called upon developing countries to promote scientific research since it is no unaffordable luxury, as many developing countries consider it, but is a main element in the development of nations.
Policy making issue
The role of a proposed national medical ethics committee was the topic of the conference organised by the BA’s Centre of Studies and Special Programmes (CSSP). Participating were Sir Magdi Yacoub; Dr Daniel Wikler, professor of ethics and population health at Harvard University; Dr Hugh Whittall, director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in the United Kingdom; Dr Abdel-Mueti Bayoumi of al-Azhar University, Fr Youhanna Qolta, deputy of the Bishop of the Egyptian Catholic Church; Dr Mohamed Hassan, head of the Cairo-based African Academy for Sciences; Dr Sherif Omar, professor of tumours at Cairo University; and Dr Singer.
The importance of policy making was stressed by Dr Hassan, who referred to the need to set up committees to categorise the issues of ethics in research, and the importance of training individuals in the basics of the medical research and principles of medical ethics.
Dr Wikler reviewed the American experiment in forming committees to tackle issues of ethical research. This, he said, requires holding scholarly courses for committee members, as well as special financing whether from government funding, the private sector, or donations.
During the conference Dr Whittall introduced a paper entitled “Research ethics involved in health care in developing countries”, which aimed at determining the moral framework of healthcare through relieving patients’ pain, respecting patient privacy, regarding the difference in cultures, and not abusing patients.
Dr Whittall stressed that four main fronts should be borne in mind when forming a national committee for medical ethics: promoting public awareness of the importance of research; advancing medical experience and scientific values; maintaining the concept of ‘perpetuity’, or that research is not a timed operation; and the need for establishing a partnership between the people, the scientists, and the committee members.
Affecting the whole of society
On the same level, Dr Wikler emphasised the importance of the concept of medical ethics in the society. He said that advancing medical ethics did not involve only patients or doctors as persons, but it should be more comprehensive and include society as a whole.
At the end of the sessions Dr Ismail Serageldin, head of the BA, introduced several recommendations, among which was the importance of linking medical research with healthcare. He emphasised the necessity of finding a system that included a national committee which would offer the instructional principles of research.
Dr Serageldin’s ideas faced head-on some questions about the role of participants in such national committees and the importance of training and preparation, whether for professionals or lay people. In addition, Dr Serageldin added, there was an essential need to make rules for medical research, the most important of which was to mention the reasons behind any researches and the expected results, and obtaining patients’ approval prior to carrying out research.
National committees should thus include independent and upstanding people, which would guarantee the honesty of the committee and defray public fears about the type of research.
Dr Serageldin finally referred to the huge role that could be played by the public sector in conducting medical research to guarantee patient safety. At the same time the concept would urge the private sector to secure the required finance.