Strasbourg, 11/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting, during its last plenary session in Strasbourg, the report by the Italian Christian Democrat Valentino Martelli, the Council of Europe parliamentary Assembly underlines both the numerous ethical problems that risk presenting themselves following the sequencing of the human genome and the new paths that open to genetics. Also to be noted: - cloning; - the conditions governing tests; - the use of genetic information. The considerable economic interests that are at stake in this Genome project make it all the more crucial for the establishment of governing principals guaranteeing human respect and dignity, felt the Assembly, which calls for the mapping of the genome to be accessible to all because genetic information belongs to the common heritage of humanity. It wants the widest possible participation of citizens in the debate over the human genome and its use, and proposes to create a Euroforum on human genetics. The Assembly also calls on the Member States of the Council of Europe to provide themselves with a national authority, specifically responsible for monitoring research into the human genome. It proposes the creation, within the Council of Europe, of a European authority that should have free access to information on genetics, be prepared to exercise monitoring with the public and private research institutes in Europe and give its opinion over draft conventions and codes of conduct.
Furthermore, by adopting the report by the French Liberal, Jean-Francois Mattei, the Assembly approved, on condition of certain modifications, the draft additional protocol to the convention on biomedicine concerning transplants. The Assembly calls in particular that organ donations between living persons only be authorised in the absence of alternative therapeutic methods and on condition that there exists personal ties between the donor and the receiver. A suitable compensation should be foreseen in case of damage resulting from extraction, including when this is not due to a medical mistake. The Assembly also insisted over the need to ensure that the adoption does not become an area for the illegal trafficking of organs and tissue.