VATICAN, March 14, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Pontifical Academy for Life has issued a list of seven commitments – a ‘manifesto for researchers’ – asking scientists for an ethical commitment in the field of biomedicine in order to achieve a more humanized medicine.
Published in the March 13 edition of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, the manifesto says “this invitation for personal adhesion is extended to all researchers and workers in research in the biomedical field and in the bioethical field.” It asks those who wish to adhere to the seven commitments to contact the Academy by e-mail ([email protected] ), fax (3906-6988-2014) or write the Pontifical Academy for Life, Via della Conciliazione, 3, Rome, 00193. Senders must include name, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address, profession, place of work, and academic titles. Researchers are asked to commit to: – adhere to a methodology of research marked by scientific rigor and a high quality of information furnished; – not adhere to research conditioned by “conflicts of interest from a personal, professional or economic view point”; – recognize that science and technology must serve the human person, fully respecting his dignity and rights; – recognize and respect research based on the principle of ‘moral goodness’ and referring to a correct vision of the corporal and spiritual dimensions of man; – recognize that every human person, from conception to natural death, is guaranteed full and unconditional respect due them by virtue of their human dignity; – recognize both the need to perform experiments “in the light of determined ethical rules” before applying the results to man, and the duty to safeguard human life and health; – recognize the legitimacy of clinical experiments on man, but only under precise conditions, including safeguarding human life and the physical integrity of the person involved, and to recognize that “experimentation must always be preceded by dutiful, correct and complete information on the meaning and the development of the experiment.”
See the Pontifical Academy for Life’s website at: www.academiavita.org