The Federal Government has inaugurated the National Bioethics Committee (NBC) to safeguard the dignity, rights, safety and wellbeing of citizens.
The rationale for the establishment of a National Bioethics Committee is hinged on the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and human rights.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), Dr Adeleke Mamora, said on Tuesday in Abuja that science and technology now included arts, education, and social sciences in all nexus that required ancient use of the sector for its development.
He said with the advancement in science and technology, countries became confronted with several challenges concerning diversity of values at different places and time.
Mamora said capacities on ethical issues in both human and environmental aspects became necessary to ensure the building of ethical grounds for policies for the smooth running of society.
“It is therefore important to note that no matter the level of development of a country, there is a need to establish the NBC, and strengthen it to deliver informed, acceptable and adaptable policies,” he said.
The Minister said the committee would advise government, parliaments and other governmental bodies on bioethical challenges and issues raised by the progress in healthcare, biology, biomedical sciences among others.
Establishing the committee
The Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, said the quest to establish the NBC began 14 years ago.
He said this was when the first Bioethics Stakeholders meeting was organised in collaboration with UNESCO in Abuja, at the instance of the Federal Government.
Mustapha said the objective of the meeting was for UNESCO to provide the government with the required information for the establishment of the NBC.
“In May 2022, the National Bioethics Framework and Policy Documents were approved by the Federal Executive Council with the directive that NABDA should commence the implementation of the policy, hence the establishment of the NBC.
“Prior to the approval of the policy documents by FEC, Nigeria has been a member state of UNESCO since 1960 and a signatory to the 2005 UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and human rights,” he said.
Mustapha added that Nigeria was experiencing numerous moral problems, which became imperative to establish ethical standards to guide policy decision making geared towards the attainment of the SDGs.
He said the NBC would promote ethical values of discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance, patriotism, good clinical and ethical research practices.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, listed other functions of the committee include assisting healthcare providers, hospital administrators, patients, families and the government.
He said the committee would serve as a mechanism to develop, recommend, and review board decisions, standards, processes and procedures related to bioethical issues.
The Minister said the challenge of bioethics for government, health, bioethical institutions, citizens and stakeholders was to create value with the outcome of scientific research without violating existing moral ethical rules.
“This is a major challenge for a sector that generated more than 640 billion dollars in 2020 globally,’’ he said.
Adamu advised that Nigeria should utilise this opportunity to anticipate and identify challenges in order to mitigate them timely.
NBC would promote ethical values of discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance, patriotism, good clinical and ethical research practices.
Providing guidance
The Director, UNESCO Regional Office for West-Sahel Africa, UNESCO Regional Office in Abuja, Dr Dimitri Sanga, said the NBC remained a platform for providing guidance to policy makers, and to stimulate increased awareness and informed debate on crucial bioethical issues.
Sanga, who was represented by Regina Prisco of the Education department, reminded members of the committee that the task ahead was serious.
Deputy Director and Head, Bioethics Unit of the NABDA, Dr Chitu Princewill, said with the inauguration of the NBC, the expectation is for things to be done right.
“If there are things Nigerians or the society were doing as a result of ignorance or absence of a watchdog, but with the NBC in place, people would have a rethink on wrong acts.
She cited the establishment of the EFCC as an example of an agency which made people cautious about public spending and other forms of corruption.
Princewill said the NBC looks holistically at Bioethics as applied to sectors such as agriculture, health, environment, security, education among others.
The Secretary General, Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO to the NBC, Dr Olagunju Idowu, spoke on, “Role of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO to the NBC.”
The inauguration was organised by NABDA in collaboration with the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO. (NAN)
