Global BioethicsPub Date : 2016-06-07DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2016.1192448
Olukunle Cornelius Ewuoso
{"title":"Bioethics education in Nigeria and West Africa: historical beginnings and impacts","authors":"Olukunle Cornelius Ewuoso","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2016.1192448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2016.1192448","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study examines the historical beginnings of Bioethics in Nigeria and West Africa. Specifically, it highlights the major events that shaped the progress of Bioethics in Nigeria and West Africa, and evaluate the impacts Bioethics has had on the region. In the final analysis, this study makes recommendations regarding how advanced institutes can complement the efforts of bioethicists in West African Countries. West African Bioethics (WAB) Training Programs have significantly contributed to the pool of competent bioethicists, academics, health professionals and ethics committee members with requisite knowledge to design, evaluate, monitor, conduct and report studies without misconduct. There is still much, however, that remains to be done. Nevertheless, advanced Bioethics and biomedical institutes can take advantage of the accomplishments achieved so far, by helping to strengthen the WAB Training Programs through fellowships, exchange programs or other additional educational programs.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"27 1","pages":"50 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2016.1192448","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2016-01-02DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2016.1145781
D. Sharp, A. Black, Judy Mitchell
{"title":"Using participatory research to communicate environmental health risks to First Nations communities in Canada","authors":"D. Sharp, A. Black, Judy Mitchell","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2016.1145781","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2016.1145781","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper describes a network of three interconnected, multidisciplinary research projects designed to investigate environmental health issues faced by First Nations in Canada. These projects, developed in collaboration with academia, used a participatory approach meant to build capacity, raise awareness, and initiate change. The first project, which began in British Columbia in 2008, gathered information on the traditional diet; for example, its composition, nutritional quality, and potential for chemical exposure. This 10-year, Canada-wide project served as a model for two follow-up projects: one on biomonitoring and another on indoor air quality. All three projects provided community ownership over the data and communicated results in a culturally sensitive manner to encourage interest in research and initiate risk reduction activities. The Assembly of First Nations, a national advocacy organization representing over 630 First Nations communities across Canada, participated in all aspects of the research while coordinating communications and arranging timely dissemination of results. These projects showed how properly executed, community-based research can be a valuable tool for stimulating interest in scientific studies while promoting self-reliance, components often missing from academic research.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"27 1","pages":"22 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2016.1145781","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2016-01-02DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1137184
A. F. Şen, Y. Şen
{"title":"Online environmental activism in Turkey: The case study of “The Right to Water”","authors":"A. F. Şen, Y. Şen","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1137184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1137184","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article intends to contribute to research of environmental media activism in two ways: First, by discussing ways to frame research on this topic conceptually and historically. Second, by considering the specific strategies and experiences of environmental activist groups concerning activist medias and participatory actions. We will discuss what can be done when using Internet platforms. “The Right to Water” website has been selected as a case study, which is essentially a democratic platform against capitalist ecology policies. In this study, we examined Internet usage by environmentalist activist groups, by collecting and analyzing data on the usage and results of web-based activism, and discuss the impact of online activism within civil society.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"27 1","pages":"1 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1137184","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2016-01-02DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2016.1183442
S. Salman, Ida Ngueng Feze, Y. Joly
{"title":"Disclosure of insurability risks in research and clinical consent forms","authors":"S. Salman, Ida Ngueng Feze, Y. Joly","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2016.1183442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2016.1183442","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Genetic testing results and research findings raise concerns about access to genetic information by insurers. Recently, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association reaffirmed its prerogative to request, for underwriting purposes, the disclosure of clinical and research genetic test results if the participant/patient or his physician has knowledge of the results. Studies have shown that access to genetic information to determine insurability can, in limited instances, lead to actual, or fear of, genetic discrimination, result in individuals refusing to undergo testing or declining participation in genomic research, and being asked to pay higher premiums or denied access to certain types of insurance. Obtaining informed consent for genetic testing and genomic research is crucial and should take into account the potential need to disclose possible insurability risks to patients and participants. Our study analyzed clinical and research consent forms, templates and guidelines from Quebec to investigate two questions: (1) whether consent forms include clauses providing information on potential insurability risks and (2) when such potential risks are included, what information is provided and how it is formulated. Our findings show that current information on insurability risks in Quebec’s forms/guidelines lack coherence, potentially resulting in patients/participants receiving inconsistent information.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"27 1","pages":"38 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2016.1183442","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2015-10-02DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1112625
Sunita Reddy, T. Patel
{"title":"“There are many eggs in my body”: medical markets and commodified bodies in India","authors":"Sunita Reddy, T. Patel","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1112625","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1112625","url":null,"abstract":"With breakthroughs in science and reproductive technologies, “natural” birthing has undergone change due to the “assisted” use of conceptive technologies. Bodies and their parts have become commodities, to be sold and purchased in medical markets. In the literature, there have been numerous debates on commercialization and commodification, which have addressed the biopolitical and bioethical aspects of organ, egg and sperm donations, and gestational commercial surrogacy. This paper examines the everyday experiences of surrogates and egg donors, coerced and enticed into selling their reproductive services (for familial and socio-economic reasons), which become commodities for the larger medical markets of India's In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) industry. Based on a qualitative study of 4 IVF clinics and 28 surrogates in a state capital city of a southern state in India, this paper addresses the issue of commodification of women's bodies, where the women from lower socio-economic families are either lured or pushed to respond to the demands of reproductive markets. However, legal gestational commercial surrogacy in India, without clear laws and regulations to guide it, is a complex issue and raises many bioethical concerns. This paper limits itself to addressing the commodification of surrogates’ bodies.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"218 - 231"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1112625","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2015-10-02DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1101213
Ivana Matteucci
{"title":"Social determinants of health inequalities: moving toward a socio-constructivist model supported by information and communication technologies","authors":"Ivana Matteucci","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1101213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1101213","url":null,"abstract":"There is a proven connection between an individual's social condition and his/her life expectancy and likelihood of contracting diseases. Indeed, a large body of scientific evidence shows that social inequalities, in particular, are the main “cause” of harm to health. The interpretation provided by the theory of specific determinants, according to which health inequalities are caused by lifestyles and a propensity for unhealthy behaviors, has contributed greatly to focusing scholars’ attention on social contexts, believed to influence an individual's inclination/exposure to risk, and therefore, health inequalities. Nevertheless, the theory of the social determinants of health provides a very rigid representation of the factors responsible for health, which are placed in categories with varying levels of centrality. In short, the theory sets out a hierarchy that goes from the general to the particular, with the more external layers (socio-cultural conditions and environmental context) influencing the internal layers (genetic and biological factors), but not vice versa. Reciprocal influences among the factors are excluded, as are interactions among the processes that put subjects at risk or protect them. The adopted explicative model is linear, reductionist, and based on a cause-and-effect relationship. However, today we know that interactions between the body, individual, and society are difficult to reconcile with a deterministic view of social inequalities in health; hence, there appears to be an urgent need to formulate hypotheses and develop approaches based on complex strategies regarding the construction of reality. This article sets out a pathway that, starting from the theory of the social determinants of health, goes on to show the necessity of a socio-constructivist approach supported by information and communication technologies. Moreover, it outlines the preconditions of a culture – and communication-based intervention model that can aid institutions in making choices in the field of social architecture that can reduce health inequalities.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"206 - 217"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1101213","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2015-07-17DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1066082
M. Garasic, D. Sperling
{"title":"Mitochondrial replacement therapy and parenthood","authors":"M. Garasic, D. Sperling","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1066082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1066082","url":null,"abstract":"The year 2015 has been a decisive year for the future of mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) – at least in the Western world. Currently, the UK and the US governments are undergoing a process of ethical and scientific evaluation of the technique to decide whether to allow its implementation or not. MRT requires the fusion of the DNA of three parents (although of a minimal percentage in the case of one of the two female genitors) into an embryo – and this creates a number of worries as to what this scientific innovation will lead to. These worries might be well placed and worthy of consideration, but not on the grounds presented by some opponents. In this paper, we will analyse a recent European Union (EU) petition that urged the UK government (but which could be applied to the US government as well) to refrain from legalising MRT, stressing that other techniques, such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), already have a more direct eugenic potential than MRT. Although the UK Parliament recently voted in favour of MRT, an analysis of the EU petition can nonetheless still contribute to understanding some of the key aspects of the debate. Our conclusion is that what seems to be really at stake, instead, is whether or not we are willing to reconceptualise our notion of parenthood as something not necessarily binominal and genetically related.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"198 - 205"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1066082","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2015-05-05DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1034472
Teodoro Brescia
{"title":"The rediscovery of Potterian bioethics","authors":"Teodoro Brescia","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1034472","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1034472","url":null,"abstract":"In 1927, Fritz Jahr coined the term “bioethics” to indicate an “environmental ethics based on biopsychics”. In 1970, Van Rensselaer Potter (without knowing Jahr) also coined the term “bioethics” to indicate a “new global ethics based on biology”. As the same Potter wrote, after 1971 “in the USA there was an immediate explosion of the use of the word bioethics” but with a completely different meaning which became dominant and spread worldwide. He went on to say, “their [the public's] image of bioethics delayed the [global] emergence of what now exists”. Elsewhere I have analyzed how this happened, here I analyze why.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"190 - 197"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1034472","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2015-04-03DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1035525
D. Billings
{"title":"Where will I plant my potatoes? Development and the power to decide","authors":"D. Billings","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1035525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1035525","url":null,"abstract":"“Development” all over the world has been thrust upon unwilling victims. In some cases, well-meaning researchers have tried to engage local owners in “participatory” projects where indigenous knowledge is invited to lead efforts to increase a reliable food supply and provide some of the benefits of a cash economy. Unfortunately, the clear assertions of local people, anthropologists, nongovernmental organizations, and common sense have rarely held out against the power of corporations. In this paper I look at examples, some that bring despair and others that give hope to people trying to maintain not only their identities but also their lives.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"107 - 119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1035525","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59806985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global BioethicsPub Date : 2015-04-03DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2015.1037141
S. Chaudhuri
{"title":"Urban poor, economic opportunities and sustainable development through traditional knowledge and practices","authors":"S. Chaudhuri","doi":"10.1080/11287462.2015.1037141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11287462.2015.1037141","url":null,"abstract":"The population of a city grows through birth as well as migration. The economy has not been able to provide employment and an income for the vast majority of rural migrants, including the urban poor. Significantly, a large number of urban poor work in the informal sector as they have less skill, less education and less capital. In many developing countries, including India, due to the fast pace of urbanization, many rural areas are gradually becoming part of urban areas, where urban amenities are lacking and open spaces, cultivable lands and water bodies remain, at least in the initial stages of urbanization. Due to growing environmental concerns, there is often a demand to preserve such open spaces to protect the environment. This provides an opportunity for some people to earn a livelihood by following traditional occupations like agriculture and thereby providing fresh vegetables for the urban population. However, these people do not enjoy some of the urban amenities and continue to be connected to the rural world through visits, remittances and social, cultural and economic networks, sometimes recruiting people from their rural areas. Thus, the indigenous, traditional knowledge of cultivation and its practice in urban areas, not only helps a group of people, the poor, to survive in urban situations but it also helps to achieve sustainable development with better environmental conditions.","PeriodicalId":36835,"journal":{"name":"Global Bioethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"86 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11287462.2015.1037141","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59807120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}