The National Committee for Bioethics of UNESCO Commission of the Republic of
Serbia, seated at SASA, was established on October 31, 2003. Its task is to promote the
perspective on ethical and legal contents resulting from research in life science and stimulate
the exchange of ideas and information, primarily by education in the field of basic natural sciences,
particularly genetics and biomedicine.
Bioethics is a field dealing with the
issues of moral-ethical behavior within the sphere of natural sciences. It
pertains primarily to biological and medical sciences, their interrelations
through biomedicine, as well as behavior of scientists and physicians at work
performed within their institutions. It implies that the individuals,
institutions and professions in the respective field uphold the rules and codes
adopted in civilized countries of Europe and
the world over the past decades. Official legalization of ethical principles in
scientific and research work, as well as in medical practice, has reached the
broadest application in the past 20 and more years, particularly at the time
when our country was experiencing deepest isolation. The legislature adopted at
UNESCO and the European Council was accepted by tens of countries that have
incorporated these rules in their laws and commenced their strict
implementation. Our country was readmitted to the UN as late as December 2001
after having been excluded in 1992, and became a member of the European Council
in April 2003. The National Committee for Bioethics of the UNESCO Commission of
Serbia and Montenegro was founded in October 2003, and in 2006 was renamed the
National Committee for Bioethics of the UNESCO Commission of the
Republic of Serbia.