WHO Conf. Backs First Islamic Code for Medical Ethics

[Muhammad]

Sheikh Al-Qaradawi (L),

Dr. Abdel Sattar Abu Ghuda ©

and Dr. Hassan Hathout attending the closing session

 

By Lamya Hamad, IOL Staff

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-12/15/article04.shtml

 

 

CAIRO, December 15 (IslamOnline.net) - The Eighth Conference of the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences wrapped up here Tuesday, December 14, by endorsing the draft of the first international ethical guideline of medical sciences from an Islamic perspective.

 

Titled “The International Islamic Code for Medical and Health Ethics,†the code’s draft will be reviewed, edited and then issued in its final form by the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS).

 

The code idea dates back to 1981 when the IOMS took the initiative of adopting the Islamic Document for Medical Ethics in a Kuwait conference “to keep human knowledge on the proper track prescribed by God as He declared Man as His viceroy on this planet.â€

 

It is, in effect, the brainchild of Dr. Hassan Hathout, a leading board member of the IOMS.

 

The four-day conference, opened Saturday, December 11, was organized by the IOMS in co-operation with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), Ajman University Network and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

 

The Cairo-based World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office played host to the conference.

 

The event brought together a host of Muslim figures, including Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Haytham Al-Khayat, a WHO advisor and an IOMS’s board member, and Head of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office Dr. Hussein Al-Gaza'ry.

Curricula

In order to further develop and empower the code to put it into practice, 14 recommendations were issued at the closing session.

 

Chief among which was a call to the ministers of education, the deans of medical schools in the Arab and Muslim world to integrate the yet-to-be approved code into their curricula.

 

Another proposal called for posting the planned code on the web sites of all medical institutions that pay due attention to ethics.

 

The code is not only for professionals but for “the people, the family and society,†Dr. Mu'men S. Hadidi, head of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Jordan, told the gathering.

 

The WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office is further implored to work in tandem with the ministries of health in the region to set up ad hoc committees to follow up issues pertaining to medical and health ethics.

 

Additionally, the IOMS has been urged first to prepare a workshop to explore how can the new code come into fruition and second to distribute copies of the code to all health-care professionals.

Research Fund

Dr. Abd Al-Rahman El-Awady, IOMS head, further suggested establishing an Islamic fund to support medical research in the Muslim world.

 

For his part, head of the Ajman University Network, Dr. Saed Salman, called for holding a conference on the ethical issues related to the pharmaceutical industry and drug research.

 

The conference has further discussed the doctor-patient relationship including medical practices, obligations and responsibilities, as well as biomedical research involving human subjects and the Islamic ruling on pressing medical questions.

 

The physicians and scholars have also touched on various sensitive issues, including surrogate mothers, determining a baby’s sex and euthanasia.

[raula]

^^^this is very interesting and encouraging("The International Islamic Code for Medical and Health Ethics")-will come back later to read in details. I have asked local imams/sheikhs + research especially on the issue to EUTHANASIA(<--in the U.S. its has only been enacted in OREGON).

 

thx for the read.