The "International Symposium on Ethical Issues Related to Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects -- Building and Operating of the Ethics Committee", which was organized by Shanghai Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Association of Medical Ethics, and Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine was successfully held in Shanghai on December 11-12, 2009.

 

Extensive and in-depth discussions were carried out on Status of Ethics Committee and its Challenges and many other hot topics under the concern and guidance of National Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai Municipal Government, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. The symposium brought together more than 30 experts from WHO, UNESCO, NIH and national famous colleges for presentations and about 350 audiences from Shanghai and other places  as well.

 

Chen Zhu, the minister of National Ministry of Health, issued a congratulatory letter showing the willingness of Ministry of Health to support the building and development of Ethics Committee. Shen Xiaoming, the deputy mayor of Shanghai Municipal Government, attended the meeting and confirmed that making Building and Operating of the Ethics Committee as the main theme is a timely and unique choice in his speech.

 

At the symposium, Status of Ethics Committee and its Challenges, the Establishment and Evaluation of Ethics Committee, Management, Informed Consent, the Continuous Training, Multinational Clinical Trials in China , International Clinical Trial Registry and Publication and so on were heated discussed with several good suggestions on rationalizing the framework of ethics committee and improving the quality of ethics review. The most exciting is the common consensus reached. It is no doubt that the symposium shall play a strong role in promoting the work of building and operating of our country´s Ethics Committee.