



































    Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(2):31-33 

EDUCATION & PRACTICE OF BIOETHICS: AN INITIATIVE TO BUILD A JUST, SUSTAINABLE & 

HEALTHFUL SOCIETY 

Dr. Md. Ashraf Ali 

Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Bangladesh College of General Practitioners & President, Taposhi 

Bangla, Community Health Care & Social Work Organization. 

  

Introduction: 

Morality is a unique feature enabling human life to differentiate right-wrong, good-bad and just-unjust. 

Ethics is the science of morality. Bioethics is the study of moral principles governing behavior, action and 

choice of individuals, institutions and societies and influencing everyday decision and policy making in 

personal and social life. In practice Bioethics is the art of logical application of acquired knowledge-skill and 

science-technology of a society for greater good of humankind. Bioethics conducts research on issues arising 

from application of knowledge-skill and science-technology in the society and intends to resolve those issues 

to make the world a better place to live in. The aim of Bioethics is highest attainable wellbeing but not at the 

expense of environment and other forms of life. The objective of Bioethics is to build a socio-economically 

productive and ecologically sustainable community that strives for ethical-cultural-political efficiency. The 

goal of the discipline is production of rational individual and promotion of bioethical maturity of society. The 

philosophy of Bioethics is that the medical profession has scope of greater contribution to social progress by 

innovative service-mix which builds capacity of human life to cope with environment and maintain a state of 

equilibrium on which health/wellbeing depends.  

Aim: 

The faculty of Bioethics may be developed in a community through education, practice and research. It is 

essential to maintain unity of education-practice-research for logical development of the faculty. It is also 

necessary to achieve a consensus on definition as well as educational materials of Bioethics so that practice 

of the discipline can address bioethical issues of both personal and social life. Newly developing faculty of 

Bioethics has the scope of (i) understanding human life and knowing its relationship with environment and 

(ii) finding out root causes of loss of health/wellbeing and making plan for combating those causes.  

Method: 

The discipline of Bioethics in collaboration with un-fragmented medical science, environmental health 

science, behavioral sciences, biomedical science and other health related sciences intends to organize Bio-

Medical-Social Action in a community to ensure greater good of the society. 



Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(2):31-33 

Discussion: 

Scientific study reveals that human life is a product of gene and environment. Interaction of gene with 

environmental components gives rise to bio-molecule, cell, tissue, organ and body which are biological 

existence of human life. Human body with integration of mind develops into an individual who behaves as a 

member of family, local-national-global community, society and the world order constituting psycho-social 

existence of human life. The biological and psycho-social existence of human life together constitutes human 

system. Health/wellbeing depends on capacity of different components of human system to cope with 

environment and attain a state of equilibrium. Loss of health/wellbeing means loss of the state of equilibrium. 

The principal causes of loss of health/wellbeing are disease, environmental crises and psycho-social 

problems. The later two - environmental crises and psycho-social problems arise from irrational human 

behavior. Therefore it is obvious that disease and irrational human behavior are root causes of loss of 

wellbeing. 

Practice of Bioethics intends to maintain the state of equilibrium between human life and environment by 

organizing biological, medical and social action which together could be called Bio-Medical-Social Action. 

Biological action influences the control mechanism of different components of biological existence of human 

system. We should think about biological action seriously but proceed cautiously by analyzing the risks and 

benefits of the action critically. Medical action has to reduce burden of disease through (i) hospital based 

personal health service approach ensuring highest good of the diseased individual (ii) public health institution 

based impersonal service approach ensuring maximum benefit of the greatest number and (iii) community 

based unitary family health service approach ensuring ethical provision of health care and medical social 

work for a defined community. Social action has to address (i) environmental crises e.g. pollution, loss of 

biodiversity, global worming and climate change and (ii) psycho-social problems e.g. poverty, illiteracy, 

corruption, crime, terrorism, injustice, inequality, child abuse, gender discrimination, political instability, 

conflict, violence, misuse of knowledge-skill and science-technology. Well-developed faculty of Bioethics in 

a society has the ability to reduce burden of disease as well as irrational human behavior that causes 

environmental crises and psycho-social problems.   

Conclusion: 

The faculty of Bioethics is supposed to facilitate education, promote practice and conduct research in a 

planned way to bring a change in the state of health/wellbeing of the people living in the community. In 

doing so Bioethics faculty has to form Bioethics associations and committees at different level of the society 

to protect human research participants, to improve patient-centered care, to establish sound professional 

practices and to establish sound science and health policies for citizens. Therefore it may be said that 

education and practice of Bioethics in a community is an initiative to build a just, sustainable and healthful 

society where people have opportunity for enjoying the highest attainable physical-mental-social wellbeing.      



Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(2):31-33 

References: 

1. Darryl R.J. Macer. Moral Games for teaching Bioethics. Bangkok. Regional Unit for Social and Human 

Sciences in Asia and Pacific (RUSHSAP), UNESCO; 2008.  

2. Julia Cheftel. Bioethics Core Curriculum section 1: syllabus Ethics Education Programme. Paris. 

UNESCO; 2008.     

3. Darryl R.J. Macer, Ph. D. A cross-cultural Introduction to Bioethics. Bangkok. Eubios Ethics Institute; 

2006.    

4. Jerome Lo Monaco. Establishing Bioethics Committees. Paris. UNESCO; 2005 

5. Leonardo D. de Castro, Peter A. Sy, Allen Andrew A. Alvarez, Regina V. Mendez and James Kevin 

Rasco. Bioethics in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues and concerns. Bangkok. UNESCO Asia and Pacific 

Regional Bureau for Education. 2004. pp.1-90 

                       


