De los Comités de Ética Asistencial hacia una Bioética Institucional / From the Commithees on Assitance Ethics to Institutional Bioethics

RESUMEN

Throughout these 40 years, the Hospital or healthcare Ethics Committees, either at the initiative of the professionals themselves or the health units and in the latter decade also on the recommendation of health authorities both at international and national level, this is how the Organization of the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) in the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights of October 2005 (1) in its article 19 regarding committees "Committees should be created, promoted and supported, at the appropriate level of independent, multidisciplinary and pluralistic ethics with a view to a) evaluate ethical, legal, scientific and social problems relevant issues raised by research projects relating to Humans; b) provide advice on ethical problems in clinical contexts; c) evaluate the advances of science and technology, formulate recommendations and contribute to the preparation of guidance on the issues that fall within the scope of this Declaration; " (one) This consensus document does not specify whether the committees are of type assistance, research, local, national or international; however, it makes the characteristics of these and their functions. Considering the premises of Gamboa GA. et al. (2) as well as the UNESCO recommendations (1), we can say that "The Committees Bioethics are, in summary, those interdisciplinary instances of the institutions where they can well serve as a reflexive conscience for the personal and collective improvement of all who are part of that institution or benefit from its services