The biomedical ethics of donating blood for molecular and genetics research in Saudi Arabia

Adlan, Abdallah Adlan Awad (2015). The biomedical ethics of donating blood for molecular and genetics research in Saudi Arabia. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

Preview

Adlan15PhD.pdf
PDF - Redacted Version
Download (3MB)

Abstract

My main thesis is that Saudi culture, in the context of the field of Molecular Genetics Epidemiology (MGE) research, poses many challenges to the currently used biomedical research regulations developed by the Saudi National Committee of Bioethics (NCBE). The NCBE regulations are informed by selected international research ethics guidelines, and they are influenced by a set of assumptions about how we ought to think about ethics. The overall focus is on a version of liberalism, where there is a strong commitment to autonomy, there is a significant focus on informed consent, the harm principle guides the justification of action, and paternalism is seen as something that is to be avoided. There are no specific guidelines that regulate MGE research in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it was important as a first step in the thesis to analyse the relevant regulations (both the Saudi and the selected international ones) and explore the related normative issues. One of the main empirical findings was an observed and reported lack of adherence to the requirements of the NCBE regulations. In this thesis I argued that the problem emerges from a mismatch between the liberal international guidelines and the nature of the Saudi context. One possible way to address this tension is to formulate a set of guidelines and research practices that build upon the nature of Saudi social relations and norms. This may result in a focus on what we can call trust-based, rather than the currently promoted autonomy-based, bioethics.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):