The first World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research was held in Rome February 16-18, 2006, and issued the Declaration below, calling for Euro funding of embryonic stem cell research.
All the talks are online:
Some you might be interested in: UK bioethicist John Harris (1) (2) , conraception researcher Carl Djerassi and this panel (02:17:13):
Elena Cattaneo, member of the Sterring Committee of the Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Disease (CEND, University of Milan) (01:13”)
Bernard Siegel, Executive Director, Genetics Policy Institute (01:08”)
Michael Gazzaniga, Member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, USA (26:57”)
Bernat Soria, Director, CABIMER - Andalusian Center for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Sevilla - Spain (18:59”)
Debra J.H. Mathews, PhD, MA Assistant Director for Science Programs, Phoebe R Berman Bioethics Institute, Johns Hopkins University (26:29”)
Miodrag Stojkovic, Deputy Director, Centre for Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics, University of Newcastle and Deputy Director Principe Felipe Centre, Valencia, Spain (24:57”)
Dan Perry, Executive Director of the Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C. (19:55”)
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Declaration of the First Meeting of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research, Campidoglio, Rome 16 - 18 February 2006
Preamble:
Freedom of Scientific research is required by democracy, is a basic civil and political right and is one of the main guarantors of human health and welfare.
Freedom of scientific research is part of the fabric of democratic theory because all democracies are founded upon the value of the individual, individual choice and upon the premise that one of the first and most important functions of democratic government is to preserve and promote the liberty of citizens and do no harm. That liberty includes freedom of thought and freedom of belief.
Freedom of scientific research is a basic civil and political right because it is a dimension of freedom of thought and freedom of speech.
Freedom of scientific research is one of the main guarantors of human health and welfare for three main reasons. The first is because scientific freedom has produced some of the principal discoveries that have lead to increases in healthy longevity worldwide. Secondly we have all benefited directly and indirectly from scientific discovery. We all benefit from living in a society, and, indeed, in a world in which serious scientific research is carried out which utilises the benefits of past research. We all also benefit from the knowledge that research is ongoing into diseases or conditions from which we do not currently suffer but to which we may succumb. It makes us feel more secure and gives us hope for the future, for ourselves and our descendants, and others for whom we care. Almost everyone now living, certainly everyone born in high income industrialised societies, has benefited from the fruits of past research and it is scientific research that will discover ways of combating the new dangers, which constantly arise. Finally, in the domain of human health, medical needs are seldom simply that. They are often also opportunities to go on living or to be free; free of pain, free or more free in the sense of being mobile or more mobile, more able effectively to operate in the world. Health is important not simply because we all value health and all want long and healthy lives. It is important also because poor health is confining and good health is liberating.
For these reasons, we believe it is time to reaffirm the case for freedom of scientific research.
The participants in the First Meeting of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research, held in Rome, Campidoglio, 16 - 18 February 2006
Express their gratitude to the Provincial Administration and City of Rome and to the President of the Regional Government of Lazio for their support, and to all those who have contributed to the success of the Congress.
Express their gratitude in particular to the Committee of Promoters for fulfilling the commitment of the Final Declaration of the Constituent Session of October 2004.
Also express their gratitude to the Luca Coscioni Association for the organisation of the meeting, confirm it as Secretariat of the Congress and give it the task of disseminating the proceedings of the first meeting.
Reassert their commitment to work both as individuals and within their respective institutions and organisations for the promotion of scientific research.
Express their hope for increasing commitment to transnational cooperation on the Congress issues, with a view to mobilising scientists, researchers, experts, academics, patients, human rights militants and citizens at large for the freedom of science, conscience and knowledge.
Denounce the obscurantist and sectarian influences which threaten the non-confessional nature of States and freedom of research through prohibitionist legislation and drastic cuts in funding, thus hindering the development of potential treatment for millions of patients throughout the world.
Invite the Committee of Promoters to involve participants in the drafting of the Statutes of the World Congress in order to identify jointly both issues and objectives and specific responsibilities in the respective fields of research or at the respective regional levels.
Stress the need to document the state of freedom of scientific research in each country by a three-yearly report which could, for instance, include an indicator of freedom of research, to be defined by methods similar to those applied to define economic freedom.
Decide to resort to the institutional procedure of a Petition to the European Parliament for the funding of research on embryonic stem cells in all the 25 member states of the EU.
Petition to the European Parliament (art. 191 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament)
Roma, date. Submitted by Luca Coscioni on behalf of the “Luca Coscioni” Association, via di Torre Argentina, 76, 00186 Rome - Italy and by….(name, surname, citizenship and place of residence of each signatory)
whereas
Article 12 of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, proclaims that the States Parties to the Covenant “recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”;
Article 15 of the same proclaims that 1.) the States Parties to the Covenant “recognise the right of everyone: a) To take part in cultural life; b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; c) To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he/she is the author”;
2.) The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the same Covenant to achieve the full realization of these rights shall include those necessary for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture;
3.) The States Parties to the same Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity;
4. The States Parties to the same Covenant recognise the benefits to be derived from the encouragement and development of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific and cultural fields;
noting that
between 2002 and 2006 - through the Sixth Framework Programme on Research - the EU has been allocating major resources in order to capitalise on the results of research on the genome of living organisms, including the new potential for treatment and prevention arising from stem cell research.
according to the European Commission’s report on stem cell research dated 3 April 2003 (Busquin Report), one of the most promising fields in biotechnology is that of stem cells.
research projects funded by the Sixth Framework Programme focus on diabetes, cardiovascular and nervous system diseases and other rare disease, thus offering hopes and prospects to tens of millions of European men and women. And yet, attempts are being made in the European Parliament to stop funding any research project involving the use of stem cells obtained from supernumerary embryos.
CONSIDERING ALL OF THE ABOVE
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED….........
call on the European Parliament to ensure that:
the Seventh Framework Programme on Research at least confirm the funding of research projects on stem cells obtained from supernumerary embryos;
eligibility to funding be extended to research projects on nuclear transfer (inappropriately called “therapeutic cloning”)
Fri, 2006-02-24 11:53