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ACTIVITIES REPORT Experts group meeting
On
February 22, 2003, the Forum for Medical Ethics Society (FMES) organised the
first experts group meeting in the YMCA, Mumbai Central, on a study that it has
undertaken on pharmaceutical promotion practices. This study, funded by the
World Health Organization through the Drugs Controller General of India, is for
a period of six months. It will use qualitative research methods to identify
promotional practices meant to influence the prescription, supply, purchase
and/or use of medicinal drugs. A group of expert resource people representing
industry, voluntary organisations, chemists' organisations, medical
representatives, the WHO, pharmacologists and researchers discussed the study in
detail and gave valuable suggestions on modifications. With this study, FMES has
branched out into a new activity-research on ethical issues of importance in our
society. National editorial board meeting
On February 22 and 23, 2003, the FMES held the first meeting of its
national editorial board which includes Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune and
Wardha. Those who were unable to make it were sorely missed as a host of
important issues were discussed. Besides being an opportunity for many FMES
members in Mumbai to meet after a long time, the meeting was also the first
opportunity for the group to meet the new editor and assistant editor in person.
Among the topics discussed were our current efforts to grow as an organisation
both by expanding our subscriber base and by taking on new activities. A status
report was given on the legal cases filed by FMES on the Maharahstra Medical
Council elections and future plans for this activity were discussed. FMES is
also involved in a campaign against communalism among medical professionals.
Various efforts to obtain funding were reported, and a discussion was held on
whether funding could influence the journal's editorial content. A brief account
was given of the journal's subscription trends. It was felt that the journal
must reach medical colleges and mainstream medical professionals. Plans were
announced to publish an anthology of the last 10 years of the journal. The
new-look journal was also discussed, and plans to restructure work for the
journal so as to distribute responsibility. Starting with the April 2003 issue,
we have taken the help of the Delhi-based editorial consultants Byword for the
journal's production. The meeting concluded with an assessment of the January
issue and a discussion of articles in future issues. ANNOUNCEMENTS Master's programme in Applied Ethics
Utrecht University, the Netherlands, offers a one year Master's
programme in Applied Ethics, starting on September 1, 2003. The programme, an
interdisciplinary activity of Utrecht University, is aimed at students from
various backgrounds (for example medicine, veterinary medicine, biology,
philosophy, theology or law), who have completed a bachelor or comparable
programme and have developed basic academic competence in ethics. The programme
focuses on the interaction between moral practice and ethical theory. The
lecturers work in the Centre for Bioethics and Health Law and in the departments
of Philosophy, Theology, Law, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The course is
taught in English. For further information go towww.ethics.uu.nlor contact Frans
Brom, Marcel Verweij, Marcus Düwell, Utrecht University Centre of Bioethics and
Health Law, Heidelberglaan 2 NL - 3584 CS Utrecht. Tel: 0031 30 2534399
June 25-28, 2003 Third National
Congress of Medical Ethics, Bursa, Turkey
The Third National
Congress of Medical Ethics to be held in Cekirge, a historical region of Bursa
in Turkey, is expected to have many discussions with an international
perspective. Simultaneous translation from English to Turkish and from Turkish
to English will be available. Nine conferences have been planned, one
round-table, one workshop, one course and one student session, as well as a
number of panels and oral and poster presentations. Among the topics to be
covered are philosophy and medicine, research ethics, clinical ethics,
healthcare ethics, medical law, ethics education in medicine, a feminist
approach to bioethics, and the role of the media. Papers will be accepted up to
April 15, 2003. For further details contact the Congress President, Professor
Aysegul DEMIRHAN ERDEMIR, Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, Department of
Medical Ethics, 16059 Görükle/Bursa, Turkey. e-mail:ademirer@yahoo.comor visithttp://www.burkon.com/biyoetik/eindex.htm Remembering Bhopal
Suroopa Mukherjee's Bhopal gas tragedy: the worst industrial
disaster in human history is a book for 'young people on the threshold of their
careers'. A generation has grown up since the night of December 3, 1984, when
tonnes of deadly pesticide leaked out of storage tanks in Union Carbide's
factory in this central Indian city. Thousands of people were killed in one
stroke and people continue to die every day in Bhopal. The survivors continue to
suffer more than 18 years later. Ms Mukherjee pulls together information from a
variety of sources including survivors' groups, organisations concerned with
health and human rights, and the media, to tell the story of the Bhopal gas
disaster-who was responsible, efforts to seek justice, and what is happening
today. The book is illustrated with charts, diagrams and a number of photographs
by Raghu Rai.
Suroopa Mukherjee. Bhopal gas tragedy: the worst
industrial disaster in human history. Tulika Publishers, Chennai, 2002.
For copies, write to Tulika atkaka@tulikabooks.comortulbooks@md4.vsnl.net.inor visit
www.tulikabooks.com. Goodbooks
Marketing Pvt Ltd, 76 Fourth Street, Abhiramapuram, Chennai 600 018.www.goodbooksindia.com Raghu Rai's Exposure: portrait of a corporate crime
contains a collection of deeply moving photographs taken in 1984 when Raghu Rai
arrived in Bhopal the day after the disaster, and then on a return visit in
2002. The introduction is written by Bhopal-based journalist Anil Sharma who was
an eye-witness to the gas disaster. Raghu Rai. Exposure: portrait of a
corporate crime. Photographs of Bhopal by Raghu Rai. Published by Greenpeace
International, Amsterdam, August 2002.For copies write to Greenepeace
India, J-15 Saket, New Delhi 110 017 or visitwww.greenpeaceindia.org
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