Dr Dominique Martin, Lecturer in Health Ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia, delivering the lecture.
DOHA: The role of ethics in medicine, with a focus on organ donation was the topic of a special lecture hosted recently by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
Dr Dominique Martin, Lecturer in Health Ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia, delivered the lecture for HMC staff, highlighting the need for ethics in medical practice, key principles of medical ethics and ethical practices in organ donation.
She is involved in research into the ethics of international travel for medical care (known as medical tourism) and the ethical issues of selling human biological materials. She is a member of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group, which is concerned with international organ trafficking and “transplant tourism”.
“It (ethics) helps us prevent harm, promote health and protect vulnerable groups,” she said in the lecture.
“The same applies to clinical research to ensure human rights and dignity are always respected.
“In areas such as organ donation, strong ethical guidelines need to be implemented and every nation should take responsibility for ethically fulfilling the needs of its people and becoming self-sufficient in terms of organ transplantation,” she added.
Dr Martin praised the vision and commitment of Qatar’s leadership and HMC for working towards this goal.
The Doha Donation Accord was established in September 2010 and is a framework based on Qatari laws, World Health Organisation’s Guiding Principles and the Declaration of Istanbul on organ trafficking and transplant tourism.
Qatar provides donation and transplant services to all, regardless of citizenship, race or religion.
Dr Riadh Fadhil, Director of the Organ Donation and Transplant Center (Hiba), said the Doha Donation Accord takes its ethical framework from the Qatari leadership’s vision of “health for all”.
“We believe in honouring donors and their families and giving them respect and dignity and maintaining fairness in allocation of organs among all in Qatar.
“Listening to case studies from around the world deepens our understanding of the high level of progress and ethical standards we achieve in Qatar regarding organ donation,” said Dr Fadhil.
The Peninsula
