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Editorial

Mexico 2014: Bioethics world host

If Brazil, in 2014, will be soccer headquarters, hol-ding FIFA World Cup, involving twelve Brazilian cities, Mexico will be “Bioethics World Host”. This was the name given to the governmental event carried through in August 19th, 2013, by the Ministry of Health that offi-cially launched in this Latin American country the begin-ning of preliminary activities for promoting two of the world’s biggest bioethics events scheduled for June, 2014, in Mexico City (FD). The XII World Congress of Bio-ethics, to be held from 25 to 28 June, 2014 and promo-ted by the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) in partnership with the National Bioethics Committee of Mexico (Conbioética) will address the instigating theme: Bioethics in a globalized world: science, society and the individual. The main objective of this global event is to examine, from different points of view, bioethical propo-sals and also its development in a scientific and technolo-gical scope, as well as its impact in society and individual responsibility. This is the third time this event – which happens every two years – is held in Latin America. In retrospect, we remember the II World Congress of Bioe-thics held in Buenos Aires (Argentina), in 1994, and the VI World Congress of Bioethics held in Brasilia, in 2002, the latter with the provocative and instigating theme Bio-ethics: power and injustice.

Another important international event scheduled for the same period, from 22 to 24 of June, in Mexico City (FD), is the 10th Global Summit of National Ethics/Bioethics Commissions. The objective of this event is to analyze global and national public policies of health ethics and bioethics. The programme include as preli-minary themes: distributive justice and universal access to health services; research ethics; public health and bioethics; and biobanks. We had the opportunity to join this event in its previous editions, in London (England) and Tokyo (Japan), in which we specifically presented the then new resolution 196/96 from the Ministry of Health / National Health Council about research with human beings, that is now replaced by Resolution MH/NHC no. 466/12 (Cf. p. 342 of the present issue, section documenta). This

global event – in its essence – is an important forum of knowledge, debates and discussions regarding public po-licies related to bioethics from the most diverse countries in world.

Bioethics in Mexico had an incredible development in the last few years. There is a public investment in different initiatives in bioethics that is surprising when compared with other Latin American countries – such as Brazil – which have not yet created a national bioethics committee. Mexico has a National Bioethics Commit-tee – Conbioética – created in 1989 and headed by Dr. Manuel Velasco Suarez, one of bioethics pioneer in that country. In 2005, by means of a presidential decree, a body decentralized from the Ministry of Health was cre-ated, with technical and operative autonomy, responsible for defining national policies related to bioethics.

There is also in Mexico an operating Center of ex-pertise in bioethics (CECOBE). It is a specialized in-formation center whose mission is to foster ethics and bioethics knowledge in health, research and bioethics education institutions, as well as in the entire Mexican population. This center makes use of two main structu-res: the management of bioethical knowledge, from whi-ch the contents, the Internet website of the Conbioética and the virtual platform CECOBE are developed, as well as logistic support for the elaboration of material and su-pport for events and its organization. There is also a spe-cialized library.

The bioethics state commissions (comissões estatais de bioética – CEB) are “collegiate bodies in charge of pro-moting Conbioética mission and policies and the applica-tion of regulations in bioethics in each federative entity in order to foster discussion about bioethical dilemmas, developing a personal strategy for the dissemination of the principles and foundations of bioethics in health care, research, education and environment care”.

In addition to this network of Bioethics State Commis-sions, coordinated by Conbioética, there is a network of committees of ethics in research and hospital bioethics com-mittees, also under the responsibility and coordination of

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* Ph.D., Theology/Bioethics. He has done studies in Clinical Pastoral Education and Bioethics at St Luke’s Medical Center. Professor of the Stricto sensu Programme in Bioethics (Master Degree and Ph.D.), São Camilo University Center-SP, Brazil. E-mail: pessini@saocamilo-sp.br** Physician. Emeritus Professor (Surgery) of State University of São Paulo – UNESP, Medical School, campus Botucatu-SP, Brazil. Member of the National Commission of Ethics in Research – CONEP. Member of the International Committee of Bioethics – UNESCO. Coordinator of the Stricto sensu Programme in Bioethics (Master Degree and Ph.D.), São Camilo University Center-SP, Brazil. E-mail: posbioetica@saocamilo-sp.br

the same National Bioethics Committee. The Committee of Ethics in Research (CER) is “an independent, institutio-nal, interdisciplinary, plural and advisory collegiate body, created to evaluate and elaborate protocols of research in human beings”. By the provisions of the Mexican heal-th law, “health care institutions in the public, social or private sectors of the national health system performing research on human beings are obliged to be under the supervision of a CER”. The Hospital Bioethics Committee (HBC) is defined as a “space for reflection, deliberation and education, in an environment of freedom and tole-rance, where the bioethics conflicts of values and prin-ciples that appear during the medical care process, or in health education area, are systematically analyzed. They are independent, institutional, interdisciplinary, plural and advisory bodies”. They are a public guarantee and an element to foster interdisciplinary and multisectoral edu-cation. They represent the bioethics institutional expres-sion in health institutions. It is observed that an extensi-ve normative regulation was recently elaborated by the National Bioethics Committee (Conbioética), aiming at regulating, standardizing and integrating the functioning and relationship of this network of research and hospital bioethics committees (Cf. www.salud.gob.me x).

When defining bioethics, the National Bioethics Committee uses Van Rensselaer Potter definitions, one of the pioneers coining the neologism Bioethics and defining

bioethics as a “science of survival and bridge to the futu-re”. Potter thought bioethics as being a new culture, the necessary encounter between the world of life and that of values, between sciences and humanities. Conbioética concomitantly sums the bioethics definition from the 3rd edition of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics (2005), in whi-ch – based in the health and the technoscience scope – bioethics is defined as “the systematic study of the moral dimensions – including moral vision, decisions, conduct, and policies – of the life sciences and health care, em-ploying a variety of ethical methodologies in an interdis-ciplinary setting”.

Finally we can say that bioethics in Mexico has a pu-blic citizenship, something that unfortunately is really lacking in our country. For a promising future of our people, living in a more equitable, solidarity and fair so-ciety, it would be desirable that we were not only soccer champions six times now, but champions in bioethics, with significant investments in ethical education, and being serious about bioethics values, from the personal to the political-institutional level. As we said before, either the XXI century will be ethical, or then we will not exist!

We are thankful to the authors of this issue for con-tributing for the continuous development of diverse im-portant Bioethics subjects.

Leo Pessini*William Saad Hossne**