MINSK, 7 December (BelTA) – Belarusian laws in the area of organ transplantation has been found compliant with principles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (aka the Oviedo Convention), BelTA learned from Yelena Bogdan, Head of the Central Office for Medical Aid and Expert Evaluation of the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry.
According to the source, Council of Europe experts have evaluated the Belarusian law on organ and tissue transplantation and the suggested amendments. The legislation has been found compliant with principles of the Oviedo Convention.
Oleg Rummo, Director of the National Applied Research Center for Organ and Tissue Transplantation, noted that the expert evaluation had been requested by Belarus. The evaluation resulted in proposals, most of which are technical and require no major revision of the bill. No serious novelty of the bill has been doubted. The proposals indicate that Belarus is moving in the right direction while observing all the basic principles incorporated into the legislation of the majority of European countries.
The presumed consent to organ harvesting after death was discussed with the European experts among other things. Presumed consent is a norm in the majority of European countries these days. Moreover, the majority of experts believe that the provision should be adjusted to minimize the influence of relatives on decision making.
The lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament gave the first reading to the bill on amending the Organ and Tissue Transplantation Law in October. The bill is now being prepared for the second reading.
Speaking about cooperation with the Council of Europe in bioethics, Yelena Bogdan noted that a number of interesting events has been arranged this year, in particular, a conference timed to the 10th anniversary of the first liver transplantation in Belarus.
An international conference on human rights in biomedicine took place in Minsk on 7 December. A presentation of the Council of Europe's HELP Course on bioethics was arranged. Participants of the conference discussed the protection of human rights in biomedicine and the importance of the dialogue between healthcare professionals and lawyers. The event was organized by the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry, the Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education (BelMAPO), and the Institute for Retraining and Qualification Upgrading of Judges, Prosecutors and Legal Professionals in association with the Council of Europe information office in Minsk.
