Food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among consumers in developing countries: An international survey.

An international survey among consumers in developing countries from Asia and Africa on food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) was carried out using structured questionnaires. Data were collected from 453 consumers comprising 265 from Africa and 188 from Asia. Significant difference (p < 0.05) on food safety knowledge attitude and practice between consumers from Africa and Asia was observed. In Africa, consumers in Cameroon had the least food safety knowledge (73.15 ±â€¯16.43) compared to Ghana (78.19 ±â€¯15.84) and Nigeria (88.16 ±â€¯8.88). Similarly, consumers in Iran had the least food safety knowledge (73.33 ±â€¯19.84) in Asia compared to Malaysia (88.36 ±â€¯11.64) and Pakistan (89.42 ±â€¯9.89). Among the respondents, 89% were aware of food poisoning while 304 (67.1%) consume food kept for long at room temperature. There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of consumers between Africa and Asia. Overall, respondents from Asia have better food safety knowledge than respondents from Africa.

Ethical Poultry and the Bioethics of Poultry Production.

In this paper, we consider the ethics of poultry production from different perspectives, applying both intrinsic and extrinsic ethical principles. We consider the perspectives of the animal, farmer, consumer, breeders, researchers, and policy-makers. Intrinsic ethical factors include feeling pain and experiencing suffering, self-awareness and consciousness, future planning ability, the value of being alive, and individual love of life. Extrinsic factors include human necessity and/or desire, human sensitivity to animal suffering, fear of causing brutality in humans, disapproval of other animals, and the religious status of animals. The development of systems to create more ethical poultry production systems is a work in progress, and in the evolution of ethical standards, moral progress and what can be described as more ethical poultry are evident.

Ethical consequences of the positive views of enhancement in Asia.

There are positive views towards use of science and technology in all Asian countries, and positive views towards use of enhancement in China, India and Thailand. After considering of the widespread use of cosmetic surgery and other body enhancements in Asian countries, and the generally positive views towards letting individuals make choices about improvement of themselves, the paper concludes that we can expect other enhancements to also be adopted rapidly in Asia. There will be future ethical dilemmas emerging from this with concepts of preservation of nature, flow with nature, and definitions of human-ness, along with concepts of harmony and social justice. Japan is less willing to engage in genetic enhancement compared to China, India and Thailand, despite widespread cosmetic surgery across Asia.

Community engagement and informed consent in the International HapMap project.

The International HapMap Consortium has developed the HapMap, a resource that describes the common patterns of human genetic variation (haplotypes). Processes of community/public consultation and individual informed consent were implemented in each locality where samples were collected to understand and attempt to address both individual and group concerns. Perceptions about the research varied, but we detected no critical opposition to the research. Incorporating community input and responding to concerns raised was challenging. However, the experience suggests that approaching genetic variation research in a spirit of openness can help investigators better appreciate the views of the communities whose samples they seek to study and help communities become more engaged in the science.

Comparisons of life images and end-of-life attitudes between the elderly in Taiwan and New Zealand.

Rapid advances in medical technology may in the near future make "natural" aging and old age diseases the main causes of human death in affluent societies (apart from accidents). When dealing with end of life issues, medical sociology will need to focus more on life and death in seniors. Understanding the attitudes of older persons toward life and death is important for both performing end-of-life medical care and in developing end-of-life policies. Descriptive bioethical analysis of attitudes in different cultures can aid a fuller understanding of the views inside each culture and the trajectories of conflict situations within each culture. In-depth interviews were conducted with 112 senior citizens in Taiwan and with 25 senior citizens in New Zealand. All interviews were transcribed verbatim; qualitative data analysis was used to examine people's views on life and death. Their images of life and end of life attitudes were compared. Analysis of the key concepts they mentioned revealed distinctive views in life attitudes between these two groups. However, in spite of differences in culture and traditions, most life and end-of-life attitudes among elderly people in the two groups were rather similar. According to these similarities, an interpretation of these values was made within a Confucian and Taoist framework that might be applicable to non-Eastern cultures as well.

Ethical, legal and social issues of genetically modifying insect vectors for public health.

The use of genetically modified (GM) insects for control of human disease can be consistent with common ethical norms of international society to reduce human suffering. This paper considers a range of ethical issues including animal rights, informed consent, community consensus and environmental viewpoints. Each community needs to decide its own priorities for methodology of disease policy guidance for ethical genetic engineering, and to negotiate with neighbouring countries. The approach to genetically modify insects raises few intrinsic ethical issues; however, important environmental and human health concerns need to be assessed before release of any GM insects. The policy that each community adopts should be the product of open dialogue involving all sectors of society. It can be expected that this process will take years and not all communities will endorse genetic control approaches to insect vectors.

Bioethics of teaching about reproductive technology and prenatal diagnosis choices in Japan.

The results of teaching trials among students in Japan are reported, examining their attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis and ART over a course of lectures. The students tended to be more negative than the general public over the use of prenatal diagnosis. The results of attitude changes, and example comments to explain the categorization process are given. The students had a diversity of comments and could reason about the examples of technology used, but were characterized by a higher percentage of uncertainty than in the general public even after lectures on bioethics.

A sense of autonomy is preserved under Chinese reproductive policies.

China has had a one-child family policy since 1979 and a National Family Planning Law since 2002. This paper presents analysis of comments from members of the general public and experts in China on the question of reproductive autonomy. The Chinese concept of 'Yousheng' (healthy birth) is more appropriate than eugenics as an expression of Chinese social policy and public attitudes. The widespread support for healthy birth has policy implications. None of the persons interviewed said that they had ever used ultrasound to choose the gender of their child nor had an abortion for the reason of a fetus's gender. Despite the bad impression of abortion from their experience, most would abort a fetus with a genetic disease. Respondents in rural areas were less likely to use prenatal care, pointing to more important social problems in reproduction in China. The impressions given from the survey stands in contrast to the implications of the majority of Western papers on the Chinese situation, and indicate that people are generally satisfied with the ethical balance towards the societal needs over individual autonomy, but they still have a sense of reproductive autonomy. There needs to be further study into these issues with larger surveys and interview studies.

How Japanese students reason about agricultural biotechnology.

Many have claimed that education of the ethical issues raised by biotechnology is essential in universities, but there is little knowledge of its effectiveness. The focus of this paper is to investigate how university students assess the information given in class to make their own value judgments and decisions relating to issues of agricultural biotechnology, especially over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Analysis of homework reports related with agricultural biotechnology after identification of key concepts and ideas in each student report is presented. The ideas were sorted into different categories. The ideas were compared with those in the reading materials using the same categories. These categories included: concern about affects on humans, affects on the environment, developing countries and starvation, trust in industry, responsibility of scientists, risk perception, media influence, need for (international) organizations or third parties, and information dissemination. What was consistent through the different years was that more than half of the students took a "neutral" position. A report was scored as "neutral" when the report included both the positive and negative side of an issue, or when the student could not make a definite decision about the use of GMOs and GM food. While it may be more difficult to defend a strong ''for" or "against" position, some students used logical arguments successfully in doing so. Sample comments are presented to depict how Japanese students see agricultural technology, and how they value its application, with comparisons to the general social attitudes towards biotechnology.

Heroes of SARS: professional roles and ethics of health care workers.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the professional moral duty of health care workers (HCWs) in the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. METHODS: Descriptive discussion of media reports, analysis of ethical principles and political decisions discussed in the outbreak, with particular emphasis on the events in mainland China and Taiwan. RESULTS: There were differences in the way that Taiwan and mainland China responded to the SARS epidemic, however, both employed techniques of hospital quarantine. After early policy mistakes in both countries HCWs were called heroes. The label 'hero' may not be appropriate for the average HCW when faced with the SARS epidemic, although a number of self-less acts can be found. The label was also politically convenient. CONCLUSIONS: A middle ground for reasonable expectations from HCW when treating diseases that have serious risk of infection should be expected. While all should act according to the ethic of beneficence not all persons should be expected to be martyrs for society.

Contrasting expectations of biotechnology for medical care in Taiwan between seniors and medical students

Este informe contrasta las percepciones de la biotecnología entre la gente mayor y los estudiantes de Medicina en Taiwán. El análisis se realiza mediante entrevistas realizadas en Taiwan a 112 personas mayores de 60 años y 160 estudiantes de medicina. Se observo que los mayores de 60 años tenían las expectativas sobre la biotecnología considerablemente inferiores a las de los estudiantes, en cuando a su consideración como tratamiento médico. Estos resultados pueden sugerir que muchos mayores no quieran que los avances la biotecnología se puedan aplicar como tratamiento médico, mientras que la mayor parte de los estudiantes se mostraban entusiásticos hacia la biotecnología. Esto es significativo ya que los estudiantes son doctores, es decir, serán quienes tendrán al cuidado de personas en este grupo de mayores en un futuro próximo. Además, los estudiantes también podrían citar los riesgos más específicos de biotecnología, no en el caso de los mayores de 60 años. Los resultados tienen implicaciones políticas ya que las personas de la tercera edad, a menudo es empujada hacia la utilización de la tecnología que prolonga la vida cuando, en realidad, no quiere usar ese medio tecnológico para prolongarla (AU)

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Policy and ethical issues in applying medical biotechnology in developing countries.

A brief review of some of the key issues in policy relating to the ethical issues raised by medical biotechnology in developing countries is presented, using India as an example. A series of some key issues is discussed, including information obtained from interviewing Indian government policy makers. Some of the issues discussed include: Economic and social incentives to encourage biotechnology; Health policy and ethics review; Patents on drugs; Medical genetics; Relationship to traditional medical practices; Positive public attitudes to biotechnology; Limited public participation; Infrastructural hurdles; Indian progress in stem cell research; and dilemmas of expensive technologies. The results show that although the needs of developing countries are different to those of rich countries, government policy utilizing guidelines and ethics committees has evolved as mechanisms to aid ethical health care delivery in India. In all countries there may be some of these concerns that are raised here, however, the integration of traditional medicine and advanced medical technology, and access to medical services by people in need, are particularly important challenges in developing countries. Better public involvement in policy making will require education and infrastructural organization as well as mutual willingness on the part of policy makers and citizens.