Congo, democratic republic of the

Abstract

Born in a context of biotechnology advances in the late twentieth century, bioethics questioning seemed, at first, miles away from the concerns of people of countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where science and technology development reminds one rather the first efforts of engineering. People of DRC are thankful of these modern facilities, they marvel at them, and they are also yearning for beneficial effects of science and technology, notably in the field of health care. However, they are not comfortable with the effects of some practices on values and morals considered immutable for ages and which give sense to the existence beyond the visible. Value conflicts around life here are now expressed in terms of poverty. It is good that the current definition of bioethics has a more extended perspective including social problems at the root of value conflicts. Now, there is a great deal of research and practices conducted in developing countries like DRC. It is feared that, in a situation of widespread deprivation, poor people, not being well informed about their rights, may easily be turned into guinea pigs, with ethically unacceptable experiments being performed on them for some undue financial incitation. Globalization reveals how all of earth’s inhabitants are in the same boat. The destiny of humanity concerns everyone and is not to be left to the direction of those who master arcane aspects of science. New humans’ powers have to be carefully managed, taking into account all wisdom acquired and developed, including that wisdom developed by intuitive understanding. In this connection, Africans have something to bring to the table.