UNESCO – Internationally recognized right to informed consent
United Nations agencies have their good days. I have also quoted the UN genocide treaty in another post (which is related).
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights
19 October 2005
Article 6 – Consent
1.Any preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic medical intervention is only to be carried out with the prior, free and informed consent of the person concerned, based on adequate information. The consent should, where appropriate, be express and may be withdrawn by the person concerned at any time and for any reason without disadvantage or prejudice.
Also:
2. Scientific research should only be carried out with the prior, free, express and informed consent of the person concerned. …
3. In appropriate cases of research carried out on a group of persons or a community, additional agreement of the legal representatives of the group or community concerned may be sought. In no case should a collective community agreement or the consent of a community leader or other authority substitute for an individual’s informed consent.
There are many important points in the declaration, but I’ll quote from a few:
Article 3 – Human dignity and human rights
1. Human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms are to be fully respected.
2. The interests and welfare of the individual should have priority over the sole interest of science or society.
Article 5 – Autonomy and individual responsibility
The autonomy of persons to make decisions, while taking responsibility for those decisions and respecting the autonomy of others, is to be respected. For persons who are not capable of exercising autonomy, special measures are to be taken to protect their rights and interests.
Article 28 – Denial of acts contrary to human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any claim to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity.
The document begins on page 74 of the pdf version
Quoting:
French (p. 86)
Article 6 – Consentement
1. Toute intervention médicale de caractère préventif, diagnostique ou thérapeutique ne doit être mise en œuvre qu’avec le consentement préalable, libre et éclairé de la personne concernée, fondé sur des informations suffisantes. Le cas échéant, le consentement devrait être exprès et la personne concernée peut le retirer à tout moment et pour toute raison sans qu’il en résulte pour elle aucun désavantage ni préjudice.
Spanish (p. 83)
Artículo 6 – Consentimiento
1. Toda intervención médica preventiva, diagnóstica y terapéutica sólo habrá de llevarse a cabo previo consentimiento libre e informado de la persona interesada, basado en la información adecuada. Cuando proceda, el consentimiento debería ser expreso y la persona interesada podrá revocarlo en todo momento y por cualquier motivo, sin que esto entrañe para ella desventaja o perjuicio alguno.
Russian (p. 89)
Статья 6 – Согласие
1. Любое медицинское вмешательство в профилактических, диагностических или терапевтических целях должно осуществляться только с предварительного, свободного и информированного согла-сия соответствующего лицанаосновенадлежащейинформации. Согласие в соответствующих слу-чаях должно быть явно выраженным и мо жет быть отозвано соответствующим лицо м в любое вре-мя и по любой причине без негативных последствий или ущерба.
Chinese (p. 111)
第6条–同意
1. 只有在当事人事先、自愿地作出知情同意后才能实施任何预防性、诊断性或治疗性的医学措施。必要时,应征得特许,当事人可以在任何时候、以任何理由收回其同意的决定而不会因此给自己带来任何不利和受到损害。
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