National Consultation on Ethics and Governance of Human Research in Fiji

The workshop was implemented based on activities recommended by the Asia Pacific Regional Meeting
for National Ethics/Bioethics Committees (AP-NEC) convened by the WHO Regional Office for the
West Pacific in Seoul, Republic of Korea in 2017. The meeting participants discussed the capacities
of health ethics of the countries and agreed that there are significant variations in institutional structures
and capacities. They stated that “emerging technologies, resourcing of ethics systems and health
inequalities both within and between countries are common issues across the region”. Member States
were encouraged to do the following;
i. Strengthen national ethics/bioethics committees through improved policy, more administrative
support and better integration with trends in health care
ii. integrate ethics training in curricula for public health, clinical care, and research
iii. to support research that has a focus on reducing health inequality, and continue to recognize,
refine and incorporate into their structures and processes the way they deal with cultural
dimensions in the health and health ethics space; for advanced countries, to support and mentor
countries (e.g. Pacific island countries) in developing their national health ethics frameworks;
and to strengthen national and regional networking and sharing.