The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) is an international, nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization established jointly by WHO

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

 and UNESCO in 1949.

CIOMS serves the scientific interests of the international biomedical community in general and has been active in promulgating guidelines for the ethical conduct of research, among other activities. CIOMS promulgated guidelines in 1993 entitled International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects. These 15 guidelines address issues including informed consent, standards for external review, recruitment of participants, and more. The Guidelines are general instructions and principles of ethical biomedical research.

Guidelines for human subjects

The International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects, sometimes informally referred to as
CIOMS Guidelines, is a set of ethical principles regarding human experimentation

Human experimentation

Human subject research includes experiments and observational studies. Human subjects are commonly participants in research on basic biology, clinical medicine, nursing, psychology, and all other social sciences. Humans have been participants in research since the earliest studies...

 created in 1993 by CIOMS and updated in 2002. These 21 guidelines (15 in the original report) address issues including Informed consent

Informed consent

Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the...

, standards for external review, recruitment of participants, and more. The Guidelines are general instructions and principles of ethical biomedical research.

Guidelines for animal testing

The Council has also issued International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals.

See also

• Clinical trial
  Clinical trial
  Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...
  
  
• Animal testing
  Animal testing
  Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
  
  
• International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH)
• Regulation of therapeutic goods
  Regulation of therapeutic goods
  The regulation of therapeutic goods, that is drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency...
  
  
• Uppsala Monitoring Centre
  Uppsala Monitoring Centre
  The Uppsala Monitoring Centre , located in Uppsala, Sweden, is the field name for the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring...
  
  
• World Medical Association
  World Medical Association
  The World Medical Association is an international and independent confederation of free professional Medical Associations, therefore representing physicians worldwide...