Bioetika di Indonesia: arahan kebijakan umum

Posisi Indonesia dalam masalah kebioetikaan sudah jelas dari dua kutipan di bawah ini. Sebagai patokan dasar bioetika dan pangan Indonesia, Menteri Kesehatan dalam arahannya dalam Asian Bioethics Conference yang ke-9 bulan November 2008 yang lalu antara lain menyatakan bahwa: “By simple definition, bioethics is the study of ethical problems raised by productions, uses, and biotecnological aspects of micro-organisms, plant and animals in agriculture, pharmaceutical industry or food production. Hence, the essentiallity of bioethics is the ethics of biotechnology or and the ethics of life sciences. Bioethics has two basic principles (1) reflecting the ability of positive aspects of professionalisn, and (2) avoiding negative behaviour.

By virtue of its definition, and in view of the current biological and health challenges, bioethics has apparent broad scope. There should be a new outlook to respond to the paradigm shift for the future good practice of bioethics. Bioethics should not be looked only within the framework of scientific undertakings of scientists. Policy makers are challenged to understand the implications of bioethical conducts on the overall scientidfic and health development. ...”.

Selain itu dalam tinjauan di bidang pertanian, dalam pertemuan yang sama, Menteri Pertanian antara lain menyatakan:

“… science has also provided us with new technologies to unlock the secret of the genomes of every organism important in agriculture, which open the possibility for the development of new plant varieties with improved yield and qualities. ...

But science alone cannot answer all of our problem. Science may inform us that clearing several hundred hectares of rainforest for rice plantation will give us several tonnes of rice grain at the cost of increasing global temperature and rising sea level by several magnitudes. But science does not tell us whether we should cut the trees or keep the forest. The decision to clearance of land for rice or keeping forest for environmental reason is an ethical decision.

That is one of the reason we cannot separate ethics from science. Without ethical considerations, application of science have the potential to cause harm to human, welfare and dignity. On the other hand, discussing ethics without considering available scientific fact is rarely productive. Ethics and science must go hand in hand, and this is especially important for a democratically elected government who is constantly required to make decisions and policies in the interest of the general public. ...”. [dari Kerangka Acuan ‘Bioetika dan Etika Keilmuan’, LIPI 2009].