IRD Sparks International Interest in Disaster Research Ethics at the 8th ABC 2007 |
|
|
|
IRD representatives were lauded by the international academia for their valuable work on disaster research ethics at the 8th Asian Bioethics Conference (ABC 2007), held in Bangkok, Thailand from 19-23 March 2007. Director IRD, Dr. Athula Sumathipala and Research Fellow IRD, Dr. Suwin Hewage participated for the conference as representatives of the IRD. They took active participation in the Research Ethics section of the conference, chaired by Prof. Abnik Gupta.
Dr. Sumathipala made an oral presentation titled ‘ Ethical issues in post disaster clinical interventions and research – Report from the Working Group on Disaster Research and Ethics (WGDRE)' . This presentation was a comprehensive report of the consensus generation meeting on Disaster Research Ethics held on January 2007, in Colombo with the participation of academics from Asia. The draft report of the consensus explained by the Director IRD generated a high level of interest among the conference attendees from all over the world and IRD was commended for its efforts by the gathering. According to them, WGDRE initiative holds immense importance not only to Asia, but globally as well. |
|
| |
Dr. Hewage presented a paper titled ‘Informed consent in Sri Lanka: review of research conducted in Sri Lanka to understand the progress of informed consent process' at the conference.
The ABC 2007 was co-organized by the Asian Bioethics Association, Center for Ethics of Science and Technology, Chulalongkorn University; College of Public Health, Chulalongkorn University; Regional Unit for Science and Human Science in Asia and the Pacific (RUSHSAP), UNESCO Bangkok; National Health Foundation, Thailand; and APEC Foresight, Thailand. The event was funded by the Wellcome Trust, WHO and other funding agencies.
Prof. Anoja Fernando, Dr. Susantha Goonatilake and Prof. S.N.. Arsekularatne also participated from Sri Lanka for ABC 2007. |
| |
|
|
IRD Collaborates in Capacity Building of Bioethics in Vietnam |
| |
|
Dr. Athula Sumathipala and Dr. Sisira Siribaddana of the IRD participated as resource persons for this event. |
| |
The National Institute of Biotechnology of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology recently organized a workshop for Vietnamese medical and biomedical scientists. The theme of the workshop was ‘Bioethics in Biomedical Research' and was held on 22-23 January 2007 at the Institute of Biotechnology at Hanoi, Vietnam. The workshop was organized by the NIB in collaboration with Institute of Research and Development, Sri Lanka.
|
|
|
Translating Research on Medically Unexplained Symptoms Into Policy and Practice |
| |
|
| |
Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS) is a common presentation after disasters. Therefore, we made use of tsunami as a window of opportunity to convert 15 years of research on MUS into policy and practice. Over the years, research on MUS in Sri Lanka was funded by the world largest research charity, the Wellcome Trust. The crucial collaboration and supervision was provided by the Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Psyhciatry, King's College, University of London. World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored several training workshops conducted throughout the country. WHO also provided funds for the training manual and the poster distributed to the healthcare institutions islandwide.
Read More ...
|
|
|
A Landmark Step Towards Curbing Disaster Research Exploitation of Developing Countries |
| |
|
| |
Over the past couple of years the South-East Asian region has experienced numerous natural disasters that resulted in immeasurable losses of life and property. While the developed nations were prompt to offer assistance in these circumstances, there were a number of instances where foreign personnel conducted disaster related research on human subjects in the guise of aid delivery and treatment for affected individuals. The ethical improprieties that came to light afterwards demonstrated the extent of exploitation taken place at the expense of the already traumatized vulnerable populations, leading to re-traumatizing. This highlighted the lack or inadequacy of proper guidelines to regulate such research in the local setup.
From the immediate post-tsunami period up to the present, the FRD has been addressing this issue at various levels in a multitude of formats. This has led to the convening of the international conference on 'Disaster Related Research Ethics; Developing World Perspective' which was attended by experts on ethics from the South-East Asian region. It was started with an inauguration ceremony held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on 13 th of January 2007, and was followed by a basic and an advanced course in bioethics on 13 th and 14 th January. The conference culminated in a consensus generation meeting of the local and regional experts that came up with a draft statement on ‘Ethical Issues in Disaster Related Research-A Developing World Perspective', after two days of grueling discussions on 15th and 16th. The expert panel: Working Group on Disaster Research and Ethics (WGDRE) resolved to disseminate the formulated document among the wider professional community of the region, and to get their input so that it could be improved and made more comprehensive. This will lead to a follow-up meeting next year with the participation of a wider panel of interested professionals.
View Asian Tribune article
View Sunday Times article
View Global Bioethics Blog post |
|
|
FRD Organised Courses in Bioethics
A Hit with the Participants |
| |
|
| |
The advanced course in bioethics and the first part of the basic course in bioethics conducted by the Forum for Research and Development was successfully completed at the Sri Lanka Foundation institute on 13 th and 14 th January 2007. This was held in parallel with the international conference on ‘Disaster Related Research Ethics - a Developing World Perspective'. Both events were held at the same venue. The local & international experts who participated in the conference also acted as resource persons for the bioethics courses. From those who applied for the courses, participants were chosen to represent a multitude of fields and professions, including; doctors, nurses, teachers, university lecturers and researchers. The courses were conducted in an interactive manner bringing out thought-provoking debates and discussions among the resource persons and participants.
At the end of the sessions many of the participants expressed their gratitude for providing them the chance to learn from such a distinguished panel of experts and also were impressed about the way the courses were conducted. The international resource persons also conveyed that they were highly impressed by the enthusiasm and brilliance of the local participants to the organising committee of the event.
|
| |
