Paris, April 17 (No.2001-57) - UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today welcomed the conclusions reached by UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee (IBC) in its report on “The Use of Embryonic Stem Cells in Therapeutic Research” just published.

Koïchiro Matsuura declared: “The issue concerning the use of embryonic stem cells in therapeutic research is topical, especially since recent technological advances make possible, for example, the production of this type of cells by nuclear transfer, paving the way for unprecedented therapeutic potentialities.”

“I welcome the fact that the IBC has been able to reach consensus despite the diversity of opinions among its members who have very different cultural and philosophical approaches, religious or spiritual convictions. In explaining the ethical considerations to be taken into account, the IBC fulfilled its role of ethical watch perfectly, in keeping, notably, with Article 24 of the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights”, he said.

Mr Koïchiro Matsuura concluded: “I hope that the report will encourage the largest number of countries possible to address this issue and carry out their ethical reflection in the light of their own national requirements and, as the case may be, apply the appropriate legal procedures”.

Indeed, a great many positions on this issue have been taken recently. In France, for example, positions were expressed on the occasion of the review of the 1994 bioethics laws; in the United Kingdom, the act of January 23, 2001, amending the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act of November 1, 1990; in the United States, the report of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) of 1999 entitled “Ethical Issues in Human Stem Cell Research”; in Italy, the opinion of October 27, 2000, by the National Bioethics Committee and, at the European level, Opinion No. 15 of November 14, 2000, of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) of the European Commission.

The report on “The Use of Embryonic Stem Cells in Therapeutic Research” was discussed by the IBC at its 7th session (Quito, Ecuador, November 7-9, 2000) and finalised after a meeting of the Extended Working Group on the Ethical Aspects of Embryonic Stem Cell Research (UNESCO, January 29 and February 2, 2001). In its conclusions, the IBC recognizes the diversity of opinions on the issue, which reflects the cultural, philosophical or religious backgrounds of those concerned. While letting each society determine whether to allow embryonic stem cell research, the IBC sets, in its report, the ethical framework for such research. The report is available (in English and French) at: www.unesco.org/ethics

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