Singapore To Tackle Medical Ethics

Singapore's Health Minister George Yeo has announced that his Ministry has established a national committee to examine ethical issues relating to medical practice and research.

The committee's responsibilities will include identifying existing ethical issues and also monitoring trends in developed countries, in order to be able to advise the Ministry of potential new problems. it will also establish ethical codes of conduct for doctors and examine how medical ethics could be taught to medical students. The Minister also said that the Singapore Medical Council will be empowered to deal with doctors who transgressed these codes.

In order to prevent the practice of medicine being reduced to the level of a trade, and the doctor-patient relationship becoming a mere commercial transaction, he told a meeting of the Medical Alumni Association, there is a need for a strong ethical code plus sanctions and safeguards provided by the Ministry. However, he added, input must also come from within the medical profession, as no sanction is more effective than professional peer pressure. This would also improve the "ethical tone" of the profession, and increase public respect.