Abu Dhabi unveils bioethics guidelines for healthcare workforce

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, has published a comprehensive Healthcare Workforce Bioethics Guidelines in a pioneering step towards ensuring standardised ethical practices in Abu Dhabi’s dynamic healthcare sector.

Built on best practices and in consultation with subject matter experts, bioethics is the study and practice of ethical implications and applications related to health and technology, including those emerging from advances in biology, medicine, and health-related sciences.

The new set of guidelines, which address the increasingly complicated ethical issues in the sector as it continues to grow and advance, were developed in line with findings from a series of workshops with more than 120 global experts and leaders in bioethics and in consultation with local and international experts. The development of the guidelines aim to strengthen compliance with existing bioethical laws.

The guidelines were developed in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) and Sharjah Health Authority (SHA) and are recognised as a national reference for ethical considerations. Building on the existing Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Health Professionals issued by the federal Ministry of Health and Prevention (‘MOHAP’) in 2017, the Healthcare Workforce Bioethics Guidelines aim to raise the profile of the local healthcare sector on a global scale in line with national efforts to transition to a knowledge-based economy.