News - Announcements

Council of Europe: Signatures (Hungary, Bulgaria)
Hungary signed on 28th September 2005 the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Biomedical Research (CETS No. 195).
Bulgaria signed on 23rd September 2005:
- The Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, on the Prohibition of Cloning Human Beings (ETS No. 168).
- the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Transplantation of Organs and Tissues of Human Origins (ETS No. 186).
- the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Biomedical Research (CETS No. 195).

Council of Europe: Medically Assisted Procreation
Replies by the member States to the questionnaire on access to medically assisted procreation (MAP) and on right to know about their origin for children born after MAP

Chine : 7000 femmes sterilisees de force (26.9.2005)
L'information parue dans le magazine américain Time du 19 septembre a été confirmée par la Commission de la population nationale et du planning familial (NPFPC).

Report on surrogacy as an alternative to sterility (15.9.2005)
The PACE Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs is due to approve the report on ''Surrogacy as an alternative to sterility'', by Michael Hancock, during its meeting to be held in Paris on Friday 16 September.

Israeli scientists successfully transplant frozen-thawed ovaries in sheep (15.9.2005)
New freezing technique raises future hopes for human applications
Israeli scientists report today (Thursday 15 September) in Human Reproduction that they have successfully transplanted whole frozen and thawed ovaries in sheep, retrieved oocytes from these ovaries and triggered them in the laboratory into early embryonic development.

'Virgin conception' first for UK (10.9.2005)
Human embryos created using a so-called "virgin conception" technique have been made in the UK for the first time.

Surrogacy on offer between Japan and South Korea (5.9.2005)
A sperm bank based in Tokyo is causing controversy by offering to match surrogate mothers and assisted conception services in South Korea to Japanese couples. The service has been offered from the beginning of the year and the company - called Excellence - reports that it already has two customers on its...

Medical end-of-life decisions for children in the Netherlands (5.9.2005)
CHICAGO - A Dutch study found that end-of-life decisions (ELD) are an important aspect of end-of-life care for children between one and 17 years old and that those decisions include choices to refrain from life-prolonging treatment and to relieve pain or symptoms, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Plans for genetic testing of German civil servants stirs controversy (3.9.2005)
The National Ethics Council, an advisory committee of the German government, has recommended that there should be a new law to safeguard against genetic discrimination of employees in Germany.

US National Institutes of Health issue new ethics guidelines (3.9.2005)
Elias Zerhouni, director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced new guidelines on ethics for staff members last week, addressing concerns initially made public in December 2003 by the Los Angeles Times about staff members who had lucrative consulting arrangements with drug and biotechnology companies.