International Ethical Guidance From the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Abstract The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) was formally constituted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1949, and it still remains under the aegis of these two specialized UN agencies. Today, CIOMS has more than 70 international and national members, representing a significant proportion of the world’s biomedical scientific community. Much of its work in the field of bioethics has been undertaken in close cooperation with WHO. In particular, its 1982 Proposed International Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects—its first effort to generate guidance in this field—was the outcome of a joint project between CIOMS and WHO. The purpose of these proposed guidelines was to indicate how the ethical principles that were set forth in the 1975 version of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki could be effectively applied, particularly in developing countries, given their socioeconomic circumstances, laws and regulations, and executive and administrative arrangements.