أول أفــريــقـى أو عــربـى أو مــســـلـم يـتـم تـعـيـنـه فــى لـجـنه المـجـتـمـع للأخـلاقـيات

Quote: General Introduction to the Community Ethics Committee Formed under the auspices of the Harvard Ethics Leadership Group The Community Ethics Committee was developed to serve as a resource to the ethics committees of the teaching hospitals and health care institutions affiliated with Harvard Medical School--Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Newton Wellesley Hospital, North Shore Medical Center, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The need for such a consultative group has been evident for a long time since individuals currently serving as community members on hospital ethics committees are not able to be broadly representative of multiple communities. Members of the Community Ethics Committee are drawn from within the geographic region of the Harvard hospitals and are varied as to socio-economic status, religious affiliations, cultural and language groups, and educational backgrounds. Solicitation for membership on the Committee has been cast widely through community, business, volunteer, and church groups, with an application process designed to obtain a diverse and effective working group. In preparation for Committee discussion and deliberation, the members of the Community Ethics Committee will receive special education in the area of bioethics through participation in the Harvard Bioethics Course for three days in June. The Community Ethics Committee meets monthly to discuss policies, issues, cases or educational programs referred from the Harvard-affiliated health care facilities and the Division of Medical Ethics. The Committee may, for example, discuss hospital policies such as those regarding organ donation, or review proposed research for which informed consent cannot be obtained, or provide input into ethical decisions in the care of patients who are not able to make decisions for themselves and do not have family, friends or surrogate decision-makers, or assist with planning and providing educational programs for the community about ethical issues in health care such as those related to rationing during a pandemic. The Community Ethics Committee will be a valuable addition to the voices currently heard within the medical community regarding what are appropriate, good, and ethically justifiable policies and practices.