As a result of recent, unparalleled scientific advances, the need for thoughtful engagement in ethical health-sector decision-making has grown increasingly urgent. That need extends beyond the professional communities to include all members of society, because the burden of establishing accepted practices falls on all. To meet this burden, the members of society must be intellectually prepared.
In Uganda, the institutional framework for regulating the conduct of research and promoting ethical behaviour in medical practice exists through the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology and the various professional councils and associations. However, despite these efforts challenges still exist mainly in terms of limited capacity to promote and enforce compliance of bioethics nationally.
To fill the bioethics gap in the country, The Department of Anatomy at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS), proposes the establishment of a Bioethics Resource Centre that will be focus on teaching, provision of services, and research in the field of bioethics. The creation of this Bioethics Resource Centre will enable the institutionalization and strengthening of bioethics in training, research, and service within Makerere University Biomedical School structure and its programs.
The proposed Bioethics Resource Centre at Makerere University will serve as a multidisciplinary hub dedicated to:
- Fostering ethical excellence in biomedicine.
- Education and Training
- Research and Scholarship
- Ethics Consultation Services
- Community Engagement
- Developing and implementing national and international research programs
- Continuing curriculum development
- Advising health providers and policymakers on policy matters including resource allocation, rationing of healthcare
- Building capacity for undergraduate, graduate, and in-service training in medical/clinical, research ethics.
- Domestic and international collaborations