Ethics and health

WHO regional activities

Women reading health posters

A great deal of the work of WHO takes place through its regional and country offices; ethics is no exception to this rule. In each of the regions, an "ethics focal point" serves as a contact person and coordinator for activities related to bioethics.


To learn more about what is going on in the field of ethics in each of WHO's six regions, click on the appropriate link below.

WHO Regional Offices

ONEC database

Following the 8th Global Summit of National Bioethics Advisory Bodies, The Ethics and Health Team at WHO that provides the permanent secretariat for the Global Summit started developing a database containing Opinions submitted by National Ethics Committees (ONEC). The ONEC database is hosted in WHO and is accessible through a public website.

International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP)

The main aim of the WHO ICTRP is to facilitate the prospective registration of the WHO Trial Registration Data Set on all clinical trials, and the public accessibility of that information.

Contact information

Ethics and Health
Department of Ethics and Social Determinants
World Health Organization
WHO/IER/ESD
20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Genève 27
Switzerland

The email address is: ct_ethics@who.int