The bioethics It is a current of ethics that arose due to the need to correctly guide human behavior in front of all living beings. In other words, bioethics -through moral and ethical principles- regulates human interventions carried out on plants, animals and the human being himself..
Biochemist Van Rensselaer Potter (in 1970) was one of the first to use the word bioethics and defined it as a link between the life sciences and classical ethics. For these reasons, bioethics is multidisciplinary and works on a series of fields such as genetic engineering, biology, medicine, ecology and the environment..
For example, a topic of interest in bioethics is the concern about global warming and its consequences on living species. In this regard, bioethics guides the decision-making of the States and the different associations in the rational use of natural resources, the protection of biodiversity and the well-being of living beings..
Article index
Ethics in the area of health goes back to the times of Hippocrates (460-371 BC). However, the first steps towards the conception of bioethics as a discipline began after the Second World War, within a panorama characterized by important scientific and technological developments.
This means that bioethics was born at a time of profound political and cultural changes, together with the discovery of a series of abuses committed especially in research with human beings..
In the late 1940s - when the world was barely emerging from the horror of World War II - the Nuremberg Tribunal, responsible for the trial of war criminals, exposed the horrors of some experiments carried out on humans during Nazi Germany.
This court showed that professional ethics, like the moral conscience of doctors and researchers, is not always reliable as a control element in medical treatment or research.
Consequently, on August 20, 1947, the Nuremberg Tribunal gave a series of guidelines that were expressed in a historical document called Nuremberg Code. The court indicated that these principles must be observed in all investigations involving human beings..
Later, in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted another very important document: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, where 30 basic articles on respect for human rights are exposed.
In 1978 the Belmont report, where three main principles are listed: respect for persons, beneficence and justice.
Later, in 1979 two professors and researchers, Tom Beauchamp and James Childress, reformulated the principles of the Belmont report for these to be applied to healthcare ethics and published in one of the most influential books in bioethics called Principles of Biomedical Ethics.
In this way, Beauchamp and Childress built a system that allows them to respond to the problems that the development of science and technology can cause. In addition, they provide guidance on how to establish an appropriate ethical relationship between the health professional and the patient..
This principle indicates respect for people's decision-making capacity. In this way, autonomy implies recognizing the existence of different opinions, values and beliefs in humanity..
An example of the application of autonomy is the protection of the rights and well-being of human participants in an investigation.
Non-maleficence is understood to be the obligation not to intentionally harm or do evil. In addition, it implies the duty to notify, prevent or reject damages and to do or promote good.
As can be seen, this principle predominates over that of charity, because it does not allow to harm others to save lives and it prevents causing damages..
Beneficence implies preventing or eliminating harm. The word beneficence involves actions of good will, kindness, compassion and disinterest towards humanity and all living beings. In this way, beneficence can be understood, in a general way, as any type of action that aims at the good of others..
Through justice, social order, solidarity and peace are maintained. In addition, justice preserves human communities by meeting the needs of human groups without discrimination..
This principle of bioethics postulates that in order to apply justice, the place that each individual occupies in their community must be taken into account. Consequently, justice in bioethics is understood as what each person deserves according to their needs and their status in the community..
A series of situations have been established in which bioethics has its field of action as a regulatory agent. Some are described below:
Cloning is isolating and multiplying a segment of the genetic material or genome of an individual, so that the cloned species are almost identical to the original. But the implications of this activity are subject to a deep debate, since some experts indicate that this process can cause deaths and risk the social order.
Other researchers, on the contrary, highlight the benefits of therapeutic cloning; This occurs because by obtaining stem cells it would be possible to defeat many diseases such as cancer.
All these points of view are of interest to bioethics in the search for a solution that is framed in the defense of human rights and bioethical principles..
This is a medical process of assisted reproduction, which allows the fertilization of an ovum outside the woman's body and then reimplants it in the uterus.
This process, although it is widely used by couples who have not been able to reproduce naturally, has been questioned in some circumstances, such as the maintenance of live embryos or their commercialization for cosmetic purposes..
When caring for a terminally ill patient, it is essential that there are no conflicts between bioethical principles.
The patient must be given a comprehensive solution to their problems; it must not be damaged unnecessarily. Likewise, it is necessary to respect their privacy and autonomy; His situation should also be reported, if he so wishes, and his opinion taken into account when deciding what is best for him.
Organ donation is a situation of great interest for bioethics, because in some cases the principles may not be fulfilled.
For example, when the donation is made to help a loved one, uncertainties arise about the emotional pressure to which the future donor may be subjected..
On the other hand, in cases of altruistic donations (that is, no relationship between the donor and the patient), it is necessary to clarify whether the donor is psychologically capable of making the decision..
This is one of the problems of human behavior where bioethics has a wide field of action. In this regard, bioethics encompasses complex actions that include citizen participation, health actions, and socioeconomic changes; this with the aim of protecting the child population.
All scientific research before starting must be reviewed in all its aspects, because it can expose the participants to risks of harm without any possibility of benefit..
For these reasons, it must be guaranteed that the bioethical review of health research is supported by an adequate and independent legal framework such as bioethics committees..
Many of the deaths that occur during the first year of life can be prevented by optimizing newborn care practices such as adequate breastfeeding, hygiene, and quick access to health facilities..
In this regard, health institutions have promoted the practice of bioethical guidelines to achieve the protection of the child population.
Man, under the pretext of improving their living conditions, has harmed the environment or habitat, considerably deteriorating the quality of water and air, causing innumerable diseases and affecting the life of plants and animals..
In this sense, bioethics tries to regulate and guide all activities and decisions that endanger natural habitats and that lead to global warming.
The decisions made by governments and institutions are not alien to bioethics, since they have to do with the problems of overpopulation, poverty, food, health services, among others. For these reasons the voice and principles of bioethics must be at the center of all these political decisions.
Yet No Comments