Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects

Central Ethics Committee on Human Research (CECHR) was constituted under the chairmanship of Honourable Justice Shri M.N. Venkatachaliah by the then Director General, Dr. G.V. Satyavati to consider various issues related to the Ethical, Legal and Social dimensions of research involving human subjects.The committee first met on 10th September, 1996 and identified following major areas and set up sub-committees of experts for drawing up a set of guidelines: 1. Clinical evaluation of rugs/Devices/Diagnostics/Vaccines/ Herbal remedies2. Epidemiological research 3. Human Genetics research 4. Transplantation research, including Fetal tissue transplantation 5. Assisted Reproductive Technologies. It is expected that all institutions in the country which carry out any form of biomedical research involving human beings should follow these guidelines in letter and spirit to protect the safety and well being of all individuals who participate in such research for the progress of science through acquisition of new knowledge.