Education, awareness raising about Codes of Conduct Dr Lalit Kant Sr Deputy Director General Indian Council of Medical Research New Delhi, India Geneva, 18-22 August 2008 Indian Council of Medical Research
Indian Council of Medical Research Established 1911 Autonomous body within Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India Long standing interest in bioethics Indian Council of Medical Research
Ethical Guidelines Policy statement on ethical considerations involved in research on human subjects: February 1980 Updated and published as Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on The Bill The Bill Human Subjects, 2000 THE BI OMEDI CAL THE BI OMEDI CAL RESEARCH ON HUMAN RESEARCH ON HUMAN and 2006 SUBJECTS SUBJECTS (REGULATI ON, (REGULATI ON, Awaiting enactment CONTROL AND CONTROL AND SAFEGUARDS) BI LL, SAFEGUARDS) BI LL, 2008 2008 Indian Council of Medical Research
Development of Code of Conduct Taken lead role in formulating draft codes of conduct for scientists engaged in research in field of life sciences Partners: representatives of major science agencies (i.e. bio-medical, biotechnology, science and technology, agriculture etc.); academia, industry and defence research Indian Council of Medical Research
Cardinal Principles: Codes of Conduct Non- Beneficence Institutional arrangement malfeasance Risk Ethical review Transmission minimization of ethical values Totality of Voluntariness Compliance responsibility
Development of Code of Conduct Mid-2006: the generic code of conduct discussed Culminated in a consensus on need for the codes of conduct approach to be adopted in their formulation and promulgation at various levels Indian Council of Medical Research
3 tier approach to Codes of Conduct Over-arching codes Detailed codes Operational codes
Partners Government Agencies Academic Institutions Ministry of Health & Family University Grants Welfare Commission Department of Science & Association of Indian Technology Universities Department of National Institute of Biotechnology Communicable Diseases Indian Council of Industry Agricultural Research Confederation of Indian Defence Research & Industries Development Professional bodies Establishment Medical Council of India Armed Forces Medical Services Indian Council of Medical Research
Bio-ethics in Medical Curriculum Medical Council of India issued a notification directing all medical colleges registered with it to include ethics in undergraduate medical curriculum (1997) Some medical colleges have regular courses in ethics for undergraduate students. Christian Medical College, Vellore and St John’s Medical College, Bangalore Two Health Sciences Universities (in the States of Karnataka and Maharashtra) to introduce in all medical colleges ICMR has developed full curriculum for biomedical and social sciences ethics teaching undergraduate postgraduate studies short and long-term courses These courses introduce the codes of conduct developed in context of BTWC Indian Council of Medical Research
Training Workshops by ICMR Workshops organized for Members of Ethics Committees Institutional Review Committees Faculty Industry partners (Pharma, Biotech) Undergraduate and Postgraduate medical students Scientists Researchers Trainers Indian Council of Medical Research
Workshops by ICMR Bio-ethics Year No. of No. of workshops Trainees 2006 22 500 2007 13 530 2008 02 60 Biosafety & Biosecurity 11 Workshops for scientists working in the laboratories of the ICMR, on bio- safety and security, Codes of Conduct part of the training Indian Council of Medical Research
Educating Scientists & Technologists 14-15 September 2006 Indian Council of Medical Research
Awareness generation The 56th Armed Forces Medical Conference, Pune, 5 Feb 2008. Presented paper on CoC in relation to BTWC International Conference “ The advancement of science and the dilemma of dual use: Why we can’t afford to fail ”, 9-10 November, 2007, Warsaw, Poland. Indian Council of Medical Research
Indian Council of Medical Research
Publishers of Articles on Dual use Technology Review panels, referees, journal editors and publishers are also being educated in nuances of the codes so that they are able to take a formal decision if the results of a paper submitted for publication have a possible dual use. Indian Council of Medical Research
Indian Council of Medical Research
Expected Outcome Creating a culture of responsibility and accountability Educating current and future scientific community Raising scientists’ awareness of their professional, ethical and social responsibility Fostering an institutional culture of ethos and responsibility Indian Council of Medical Research
Conclusion Codes of conduct have to strike a delicate balance and look at both sides of scientific research Like Janus, encourage research & development on one hand and at the same time keep an eye on its misuse Janus - the two headed Roman God, each face The Codes would weave looking in opposite direction a safety net to promote and symbolizing the middle best practices in the ground. conduct of research Indian Council of Medical Research
Thank you Indian Council of Medical Research
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