10 January 2022 – The annual meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Research Ethics Review Committee was organized by the Department of Science, Information and Dissemination in the WHO Regional Office on 12 December 2021. The Committee meets annually to discuss strategic planning and compliance of health research in the Region with WHO policies and international guidance for research on human subject.

This year the meeting was attended by Committee members from Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine and Tunisia. Representatives of WHO and UNESCO also participated. 

The objectives of the meeting were to:

review the work of the Committee during 2020/2021;

share outcomes of cases studies of research ethics governance in the 3 Member States (Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan);

plan future work during 2022-2023; and

discuss possible contributions to the Global Bioethics Summit and plans for a regional bioethics summit in 2022.

The plenary sessions included presentations on work conducted in 2021, WHO Regional Office plans to establish an online platform for ethical review and submissions, status of ethics governance in 3 countries of the Region, UNESCO/WHO collaboration, ethics of human genome editing and possible contributions to the global and regional bioethics summits (Portugal, September 2022). 

Members supported continuous support of bioethics and research in the Region; capacity building of Member States in ethics and research methods by effectively imparting training using digital platforms; engaging WHO collaborating centres on bioethics to impart training in the Region; as well as collaboration between UNESCO chairs and WHO collaborating centres  at national and regional levels.

Related link

Summary report on the annual meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Research Ethics Review Committee
Cairo, Egypt, 12 December 2021