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Protecting human participants in research: launch of new ethics handbook

A handbook that will assist Human Research Ethics Committees in making decisions to approve or deny research projects involving humans has today been launched at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson.

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8 March 2002
KP14/02

Protecting human participants in research: launch of new ethics handbook

A handbook that will assist Human Research Ethics Committees in making decisions to approve or deny research projects involving humans has today been launched at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson.

Senator Patterson said the introduction of new medical treatments and practices often relied initially on clinical trials and research on humans.

"Protecting the welfare and rights of participants in these trials is the guiding principle for approval of such research conducted in Australia today," she said.

The handbook, Human Research Ethics Handbook developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council will provide valuable guidance to the more than 200 registered Human Research Ethics Committees now operating in hospitals, universities, government agencies and the private sector, around Australia.

"While there are many significant advances on our horizon particularly in medical research and biotechnology, there are also serious ethical issues to consider. It is the task of human research ethics committees to find an appropriate balance between these potential benefits and the ethical issues associated with them," the Minister said.

The Chair of the Australian Health Ethics Committee, Dr Kerry Breen, explained that the handbook would complement the NHMRC's National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans.

"The handbook incorporates the four principles of ethical conduct that form the basis of the National Statement: integrity; respect for persons; beneficence and justice. It also discusses many of the ethical and legal issues facing ethics committees in the review of research projects involving humans," he explained.

Professor John McNeil, the Chair of The Alfred hospital's Human Research Ethics Committee, welcomed the development of the handbook.

"This handbook will be an extremely valuable extra resource for ethics committees all around the country."

Media Contact: Marnie Gaffney (Minister Patterson's Office) (03) 9657 9577, Jeanne Klener (NHMRC) (02) 6289 5796, Melea Tarabay (The Alfred) (03) 9276 2266