Minutes of the Council meeting held on 21 June 2000
Fri, 28 July 2000
Council (00) 3rd Meeting
NUFFIELD COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS
Minutes of the Meeting held at 28 Bedford Square London WC1B 3EG
on 21 June 2000 at 10.30 am
PRESENT
Professor Ian Kennedy (Chairman)
Professor Martin Bobrow (Deputy Chairman)
Professor Tom Baldwin, Professor Catherine Peckham, Professor Brian Heap, Professor Martin Raff, Lady Hornby, Mr Nick Ross, Mrs Rebecca Howard, Professor Marilyn Strathern, Mr Derek Osborn, Professor Albert Weale
APOLOGIES
Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, Professor Duncan Forrester, John Ledingham and Professor Herbert Sewell
SECRETARIAT
Dr Sandy Thomas, Susan Bull, Julia Fox and Yvonne Melia.
Council was reminded that they would be joined at lunch-time by Professor Ed Southern, University of Oxford.
MINUTES OF (00) 2nd MEETING
1 These were agreed as an accurate record of the previous meeting.
MATTERS ARISING
2 Meeting with Sir Paul Nurse, Director General (DG) of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF): An introductory meeting between Sir Paul Nurse, the Chairman and the Director took place on 11 May. The Chairman welcomed the idea of collaborative activities and it was agreed that Sir Paul would reflect on the meeting and offer proposals in due course.
3 Meeting with Yvette Cooper MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health: the Chairman reported that a helpful and productive meeting attended by himself, Professor Martin Bobrow, Professor Martin Raff, Professor Catherine Peckham, Professor Tom Baldwin and the Director had taken place on June 20th. It was agreed that formal meetings between Council and government officials would be scheduled twice a year to inform both sides about current activities and matters of concern to Government.
4 Annual Report/Review: The Chairman reported that the Annual Report/Review was now with the typesetter and would be available once this process was completed.
CHAIRMAN'S ITEMS
NEW COUNCIL SUB-COMMITTEES
Council (00) 14
5 The Chairman explained the rationale for establishing new sub committees in four areas: Finance, Future Work, External Relations and Appointments. Members were assured that the aim of the subcommittee meetings was to expedite the Council's work more efficiently and not to generate more bureaucracy. Members were invited to let the Secretariat know if they wished to serve on any of the four.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
FOLLOW-UP: GM CROPS
Council (00) 15
6 Note was made of the Royal Society's activity in following up its previous work on the scientific development of GM crops and its relevance for developing countries. A document to be launched on 11 July would expand on some of the topics raised in the Council's GM report and would have input from a number of developing countries.
ETHICS OF HEALTHCARE-RELATED RESEARCH
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
7 The Director reported that the Working Party had held its 3rd meeting in June. The new format of a working dinner followed by a full day meeting was proving very successful.
8 The Working Party had agreed that the best opportunity to engage with a range of representatives from developing countries would be presented at the international meeting on Tropical Medicine in Oxford later in the year. The fourth Working Party meeting had therefore been re-scheduled to take place in Oxford during the week of this meeting in September. Of the three-day meeting of the Working Party, one day would be dedicated to a workshop with delegates from developing countries and the other two to Working Party business.
9 Working Party members felt that it was nevertheless important for some fact-finding meetings to take place outside the UK. It was agreed that subgroups of the Working Party would meet local researchers and policy makers in Africa and Southern Asia.
10 The Durban meeting on HIV/AIDS would be a very important meeting and it was agreed to see if the Working Party could be represented. It was pointed out that the implications of the debate in South Africa about the origin of HIV/AIDS were relevant to the report. The issue of breast feeding and HIV transmission should also be addressed.
11 The second draft of chapters had now been completed and these were variable in length and content. They would be redrafted by August and then edited into the first draft of a report for the September meeting. The draft report was due to be presented to Council in January 2001.
STEM CELL THERAPY: THE ETHICAL ISSUES
12 The Director reported that there had been considerable interest in the discussion paper. Media reporting had been well balanced with emphasis consistently being given to the potential benefits of the technology. The Director presented the findings of the paper to a meeting for Parliamentarians held at the House of Lords and jointly organised by the MRC and the Council. A similar meeting for an invited public audience was being organised by the MRC and the British Association's Science and Public Affairs Forum. The Director had also been invited to present the paper at another meeting at the House of Lords being organised by the Parkinson's Disease Society. The publication of the Chief Medical Officer's report on stem cells was expected shortly.
MAIN BUSINESS
FUTURE FUNDING
Council (00) 16
13 The Director of the Nuffield Foundation had presented a paper at the Council's Forward Look seminar on May 17th. It was agreed that the Chairman would write to the Director of the Foundation to let him know that the Council was content for the proposal to be taken forward.
REFLECTING ON FORWARD LOOK SEMINAR 2000
Council (00) 17
14 The Chairman invited feedback on the Council's Forward Look Seminar. The relaxed atmosphere of the day away from Bedford Square was, on balance, felt to be valuable. A stronger steer from members in future on how the day should be used would be helpful.
PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF THE COUNCIL'S WORK
Council (00) 18
15 It was agreed that this was too large a subject to discuss in the time available. The paper ((00) 18) had necessarily been limited to a discussion of experience with the GM crops report. It was agreed that a new paper would be produced for the October meeting.
WORKING PARTY ON GENES AND BEHAVIOUR
Council (00) 19
16 The terms of reference were now ready for the Working Party to review.
WORKSHOP ON SAFETY/RISK
Council (00) 20
17 Tom Baldwin, Nick Ross and Albert Weale were thanked for their contributions to the papers on risk. Professor Weale reported that the British Academy would hold a conference on risk in 2001 which would focus on public preferences and public policy. The planned Council workshop on risk would be concerned with the principles for handling risk, particularly in the case of innovative new technologies such as xenotransplantation and GM crops. It would be necessary to examine different cases as it was unlikely that one set of principles would be uniformly applicable. It was also important for the analysis to be distinctive as a good deal of work had already been done. There might be a need for a US/European dimension.
18 It was agreed that draft terms of reference and suggestions for membership of a Round Table would be submitted to the October meeting.
ROUND TABLE ON PATENTING: GENOMICS AND PROTEOMICS
Council (00) 21
19 The Director reported that the first Round Table meeting at the Sanger Centre, Cambridge had gone well. The focus would be on developments 'downstream' from the filing of patent applications. It had been agreed to undertake some case study work to illustrate some of the specific issues. A second meeting would take place in July. Two further meetings were planned for the Autumn.
TO REPORT
3rd GLOBAL SUMMIT OF THE NATIONAL BIOETHICS COMMISSIONS
20 The Director and Dr Elaine Gadd, Department of Health, were the UK representatives organising the Summit of National Bioethics Commissions. The programme would be circulated to Council members when it was finalised. The theme of the meeting would be clinical research in developing countries and Sir Ken Calman would speak on behalf of the Council. It was hoped that the Council would be able to host an evening reception for Summit delegates, at 6.00 pm, 21 September, Bedford Square.
THE COUNCIL'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY
21 The Director reminded Council that the Council's 10th anniversary would fall next June. This occasion should coincide with the launch of the report on healthcare-related research in developing countries. It was suggested that the Council should hold a party to mark the occasion and to thank the many contributors to its work. A CD-Rom containing all of the Council's work to date could be published at the same time and widely disseminated.
REMAINING MEETING DATES FOR 2000
Wednesday 11 October
Commencing at 10.30 am, followed by lunch
MEETING DATES FOR 2001
Wednesday 24 January
Wednesday 28 March
Wednesday 27 June
Wednesday 17 October
All commencing at 10.30 am, followed by lunch
Forward Look Seminar
Wednesday 16 May (format to be reviewed)
Last Updated Mon, 7 June 2004