Bioethics

Bioethics studies the ethical questions raised by such sciences as biology, medicine, political science and theology. Science and technology play an increasingly important role in society worldwide. That is why it is very important to weigh the pros and cons of new discoveries and technologies against each other. Topics that bioethics deals with include medical issues such as abortion, euthanasia, access to care, and organ transplantation . But social topics such as birth control and drug use are also studied by the bioethicist. There are also themes that still seem like future music, but are getting closer, such as cloning people, or freezing people who die to bring them back to life later, the so-called em> cryonics .

UNESCO's mission: to promote dialogue

Precisely because cultural factors such as religion and tradition also play a major role in bioethics, it is important to hold a debate about it with as many countries as possible. UNESCO contributes to this. In 1993 the Bioethics Program was established. The first major success of that program came in 1997, when the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights . This was the first international declaration in the field of bioethics and the document was ratified by the UN General Assembly in 1998.

UNESCO also has two important advisory councils for bioethics. The first is the International Bioethics Committee (IBC), made up of 36 independent experts. In addition, there is the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC) , which includes representatives from 36 member states. Until 2009, the Netherlands belongs to the IGBC, which meets every two years to evaluate the advice of the IBC.