Breast cancer under threat from the new ethics say top cancer s...( Breast cancer research is under threat ...),Health

Professor Baum, chairman of the 3rd European Breast Cancer Conference, told a news briefing that the organising committee of the conference were unanimous in their concern. At the end of the conference tomorrow (Saturday 23 March) delegates will be asked to agree a policy which will culminate in a document the Barcelona Declaration - to be presented to European Union health commissioners.

"These threats to research come from multiple directions EU regulations on clinical trials, the revised Declaration of Helsinki, which is branding some legitimate clinical research unethical, and the activities of animal rights," said Professor Baum.

On top of this the increasing bureaucracy of informed consent procedures was frightening off both clinicians and patients. "It is also deterring young clinical researchers," he said. "They feel the game isnt worth the candle."

The topic will be the subject of the final conference debate tomorrow. To set the scene for the delegates, Professor Baum has turned to George Orwells famous novel 1984 for inspiration for a short satirical drama entitled 2084, which will performed by the panellists. He envisages the hero of Orwells novel as a medical oncologist in the year 2084 whose attempts to carry out clinical research lead him into confrontation with the authorities and end with him being hauled before the Ministry of Truth and Health accused of the ultimate crime of not being politically correct.

Said Professor Baum: "It may be tongue in cheek but it makes an extremely serious point. If we care for the future of clinical research we must be prepared to challenge those rules and regulations that are gradually and insidiously underminin
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Contact: Margaret Willson
m.willson@mwcommunications.org.uk
34-93-364-4487
Federation of European Cancer Societies
22-Mar-2002