The SIBI

SIBI - Foundation


SIBI

            The International Society of Bioethics (SIBI) was founded in 1996 at the proposal of the asturian medical doctor Marcelo Palacios, former member of the Spanish Parliament (1982-1996) and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (1986-1996). It was also in 1996 that the Council of Europe, at the request of its rapporteur (Marcelo Palacios) and after approval of the Council's President and its Secretary General, decided to open for signature in Oviedo (Asturias) its Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with Regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, also known as the Bioethics Convention of Asturias - which finally took place on 4 April 1997.


View of the Jovellanos theatre during the public presentation of the SIBI


             The SIBI's first meeting was held on 11 December 1997. It is an Society which aims to promote reflection, analysis and open discussion on Bioethical issues, as expressed in its Charter of Principles. One of its main tasks is to disseminate the Bioethics Convention of Asturias and study in depth its contents and those of its Protocols. The SIBI is legally, economically and administratively supported by the same-named Foundation.

Foundation
            The SIBI Foundation was set up by a deed executed on 5 December 1997. It was recorded in the Register of the Board of Trustees of Educational Foundations on 18 January 1998. Its legal address is Town Hall, Plaza Mayor, 1, Gijón, Asturias, Spain.

            The exclusive aim of the SIBI is to promote, support, disseminate and consolidate the knowledge of Bioethics in order to attain its full application in fields such as Medical, Biological, Environmental and Food Sciences and Technologies; to encourage legal and pedagogical developments regarding Bioethics at a national and international level, and to foster a legal, social and ethical analysis of any problem posed by scientific advances, especially in Medicine and Biotechnology. The SIBI carries out these tasks through its Scientific Committee.

            The SIBI Foundation is managed, administered and represented by its Board of Trustees, whose composition, nomination and renovation are established in its Statutes. Trustees are not economically rewarded for the performance of their functions.

             The first Board of Trustees was set up on 5 December 1997. Its President is the Major of Gijón, and its members are the Rector of the University of Oviedo and Dr. Marcelo Palacios, who is also in charge of co-ordinating the Board of Trustees and the Scientific Committee. Its Secretary is the General Secretary of the Town Council of Gijón. Mr. Mariano López Santiago, or any Town Council Officer he might designate.

Public presentation of the International Society of Bioethics at the Jovellanos theatre (GIJÓN,Spain, 10 December 1997) . Left to rigth: Santiago Dexeus, Vicente Álvarez Areces (Mayor of Gijón), Julio Rodriguez (Rector of the University of Oviedo) and Marcelo Palacios.

             The SIBI Board of Trustees is mainly made up by its founders: Dr. Marcelo Palacios Alonso, the Town Council of Gijón (represented by the Major of Gijón, Mr. Vicente Álvarez Areces and actually by Ms. Mª Paz Fernández Felgueroso), and the University of Oviedo (represented by its Rector, Mr. Julio Rodríguez Fernández, and sucessibly by Mr. Juan Vazquez). It also includes as co-founders the transport company Grupo ALSA (represented by its President Mr. José Cosmen Adelaida and sucessibily by Mr Jacobo Cosmen), the electricity supplier HIDROCANTÁBRICO (represented by Mr. Martín González del Valle y Herrero, Baron of Grado) and Grupo MASAVEU (represented by its President Mr. Elías Masaveu and sucessibily by Mr. Fernándo Masaveu).
The Foundation has also signed co-operation agreements with the financial entities CajAstur (represented by its President Mr. Manuel Menéndez Menéndez) and the Ramon Areces Foundation (represented by its President Mr. Isidoro Alvarez).

Their economic contributions enlarge the funds which make it possible for the SIBI to perform its functions, particularly those of its Scientific Committee.
 
bioetica@sibi.org
Sociedad Internacional de Bioética