Lack of personnel main problem for bioethics introduction in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - UNESCO seminar, entitled “Bioethical Education at Armenian Universities: Problems and Perspectives,” kicked off in Yerevan.

“The lack of personnel is an acute matter for introduction of bioethics in Armenia,” Armenia’s representative at the International Association of Bioethics, biologist Igor Madoyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

He added that, according to European standards, bioethical committees should be established in hospitals and higher education institutions to protect the rights of patients and experimental animals, however, there are not such committees in Armenia due to lack of personnel.

Bioethics is a study of ethical aspects of human activity in medicine and biology. Bioethics refers to study of social, ecological, medical, social and legal problems related to not only to people, but also to any living organism included in ecosystems surrounding people. From this aspect, bioethics is a philosophical study, it assesses the results of new technologies and ideas development in medicine and biology as a whole. In October 2005, Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights was adopted by the UNESCO’s General Conference.