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Published on September 20, 2007

Those concerned about ethics in healthcare, and particularly in biotechnology, have been calling on the government to better regulate stem-cell research and treatment to ensure responsible use of the cutting-edge technology and bring it into line with society's ethical standards. Their demands have largely been ignored. The public health authorities are slow to come up with clear-cut policies on this important matter, while allowing researchers to conduct stem-cell research without restraint, and private medical service providers to profiteer from inexact treatment procedures. Thailand's scientific community and the medical profession have shown little interest in discussing and resolving the moral and social implications of the advances in biotechnology and medical science. But in many other countries these same issues have sparked heated debate among scientists, doctors, businesspeople, legal experts, religious scholars and ethicists.

The debate on cloning technology centres on human cloning, which can be divided into two major areas: reproductive cloning and human embryonic stem-cell research. While there is enormous medical potential in stem-cell research, especially for regenerative medicine, the question is how to conduct such research in a morally responsible manner and with respect for the value of human life. For example, can the advances brought about by stem-cell treatments justify a trade in human embryonic stem cells, or cloning of humans in order to harvest stem cells from blastocysts or foetal tissues?

Thailand's Buddhist leaders have had no meaningful input into the controversy surrounding human cloning. At the same time, only a tiny minority within the scientific community and medical profession feels strongly enough about these issues to make its voice heard.

However, a news report earlier this week may see their concerns become more widely acknowledged and even generate a rational debate. Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday that disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk had fled to Thailand to escape controversy and continue his research here. He was said to be ready to take advantage of the lack of rules and regulations on stem-cell research here. The newswire service quoted cloning scientist Park Se-pill, an associate of Hwang, as saying, "Dr Hwang and his team moved to Thailand to continue with their studies free from ethical controversy over their research here [in South Korea]."

According to the report, Hwang and a group of researchers have been in Thailand for two months, focusing on the cloning of pet animals and the production of stem cells that could be used for cell treatment. Hwang was banned by the South Korean government from carrying out research using human eggs after his claims, published in a 2004 science journal, that he created the first human stem cells through cloning were found to be false. Apparently the AFP report has shamed the Thai authorities into taking face-saving action.

The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday in a hastily arranged press conference that it would discuss with the Medical Council the need to draw up guidelines and a regulatory framework governing stem-cell research and treatment procedures. This would cover ethical standards and consumer protection measures. Certainly such a move has not been made a moment too soon. And there will be many awkward questions regarding the whereabouts of Hwang and his researchers in this country, whether they have been doing their work legally, who has been hosting them, and which laboratory or research facilities they have been using.

The FDA has been feeble in its response to the freewheeling commercialisation of stem-cell therapies by private medical service providers. It mustered the courage to issue a statement only a few months ago, warning chronically ill patients against seeking stem-cell therapies from providers that have apparently exaggerated what these treatments can do to alleviate chronic diseases and irreversible medical conditions.

No legal action can be taken to rein in medical service providers that offer stem-cell therapies, because existing regulations are too outdated to keep pace with the scientific advancements. Before we can even think about how to ensure that advancement in stem-cell research does not compromise our ethical standards, Thailand, as a society, must first find its moral compass.