AP-NEC > Overview
Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for
National Ethics/Bioethics Committees
23-25 October 2017 - Seoul, Republic of Korea

BACKGROUND

The National Bioethics Committee of the Republic of Korea (KNBC), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), [in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),] convened the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for National Ethics/Bioethics Committees (AP-NEC) in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 24-25 October 2017. AP-NEC provided a platform for participants to build to exchange ideas, build support, strengthen capacities, and foster collaboration in driving sustainable action to promote health ethics in the SDGs and advance action on regional priority ethics issues. Local secretariat support was provided by the Korea National Institute for Bioethics Policy (KONIBP). Guidance in developing the programme was provided by the AP-NEC Steering Committee, chaired by KNBC and consisting of members from New Zealand and Singapore, India and Thailand, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO), WHO Regional Office for South East Asia (WHO SEARO), and UNESCO.

PARTICIPANTS

KNBC consulted and coordinated with WHO to identify and facilitate nominations of participants from countries in the Western Pacific and South East Asia Region, including :

(1) The chair of the country's national ethics/bioethics committee or equivalent advisory group, if any, that provides guidance to the government on health ethics issues; and

(2) A senior officer in the ministry of health or other government agency responsible for the development, implementation and/or evaluation of health ethics policies and programmes.

THEME

Promoting Health Ethics in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

OBJECTIVES

(1) To raise awareness about the essential role of health ethics in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
(2) To strengthen national capacities in promoting ethics in health, including through national ethics/bioethics committees; and
(3) To explore opportunities for collaboration and develop plans towards advancing action on regional priority issues in health ethics.

The Steering Committee

SC member
Dr PARK Sang Eun, MD, PhD (Chairperson, National Bioethics Committee of the Republic of Korea (KNBC)) – SC Chair
Dr PARK Soo Hun, SJD (Vice-Chairperson, KNBC) – SC Deputy Chair
Dr LEE Yoon Seong, MD, PhD (Member, KNBC) – SC Member / Chief of Organizing Committee
Dr Roli MATHUR, PhD (Head, Bioethics Unit, National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, India) – SC Member
Dr Barry SMITH, PhD (Chair, Research and Ethics and Clinical Ethics Committees, Lakes District Health Board, New Zealand) – SC Member
Dr KON Oi Lian, MD (Deputy Chair, Bioethics Advisory Committee, Singapore) – SC Member
Professor Punkae MAHAISAVARIYA, MD (Director, Center of Ethical Reinforcement for Human Research, Mahidol University, Thailand) – SC Member
Dr Vivian LIN, PhD (Director, Division of Health Systems, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO)) – SC Member / Head of Secretariat
Dr Gopinath NAIR, PhD (Regional Advisor, Research Policy & Cooperation Unit, Communicable Diseases Department, WHO Regional Office for South East Asia (SEARO)) – SC Member / Secretariat
Dr Dafna FEINHOLZ, PhD (Chief, Bioethics and Ethics of Science Section, Sector for Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO) – SC Member