Protection of Human Rights in Biomedicine I

Start date: 1 June 2020

Duration: 31 months

Budget: EUR 530,000

Donor: The Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022

Partners: Human Rights Defender’s Office; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (MESCS), Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia (PGO), Standing Committee of Healthcare and Social Affairs of the National Assembly, Academy of Justice of the Republic of Armenia.

Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine of the Council of Europe (The Oviedo Convention) is the only legally binding international instrument establishing framework applicable both to day-to-day medicine and to new technologies in the biomedical field. The Project aims to raise awareness on and facilitate implementation of the European human rights’ and ethical standards in the field of biomedicine, such as informed consent for any medical intervention, protection of private life and right to information, non-discrimination, including on the basis of genetic heritage, prohibition of financial gain in transplantation.

The Project is focused on:

• • • Supporting the national authorities in their effort to bring legal norms and law-enforcement practices in the biomedical field closer to the European human rights’ and ethical standards preparing Armenia for ratification of the Oviedo Convention;
    • Strengthening medical and legal practitioners’ knowledge and capacity to apply human rights standards in biomedical fields.

The Project is implemented within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2020. The development of this Project was highly supported by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and designed to tackle the human rights problems such as subjecting individuals to medical examination and/or treatment, exposing confidential medical information, carrying out sex-selective abortion, discriminatory treatment of patients and other questions related to informed consent for medical treatment, organ donation and transplantation.

The Project will contribute to the following specific outcomes of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia:

• • • Relevant legal texts and law-enforcement practices are brought into line with the principles enshrined in the Oviedo Convention;
    • The overall level of human rights protection in the biomedical field is increased;
    • Armenia is better prepared for the possible future ratification of the Oviedo Convention.