SHORT BIO -
Dr. Derrick Aarons (The International Bioethics Committee-IBC of UNESCO)
Dr. Derrick Aarons J.P. – MB.BS. (UWI), M.Sc.(Bioethics), PhD (McGill), is a Consultant Bioethicist and Family Doctor who did his Master’s specialization in Bioethics and Palliative Care at the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics, and Law, and his PhD in Experimental Medicine and Bioethics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
He is currently serving as a member and project Co-coordinator for the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) of UNESCO. He is also the Ethics Consultant for the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), serving the 24 member states across the Caribbean. He is adjunct faculty in the Department of Bioethics, Clarkson University, USA, and Consultant for the Center for Global Bioethics, St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies.
Dr. Aarons has served as a member of the International Advisory Board for Bioethics of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as Deputy Chairman for the National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica, as former Bioethicist for the Ethics Committee at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the UWI, and former Chairman for the Advisory Panel on Ethics and Medico-Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Health in Jamaica. He was also the Convenor and Founding President of the Bioethics Society of the English-speaking Caribbean (BSEC).
Dr. Aarons has had an outstanding career in Bioethics over the past 20 years. He is the author of the book “Vital Communications in Medicine” – available on Amazon. His book addresses critical communicative factors between health care professionals and patients.
Having received his post-graduate training in Canada, Dr. Aarons launched his career as a transcultural bioethicist by working in several countries across the Caribbean, and by addressing various international conferences, symposia, and forums in countries such as Malawi, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Germany, Canada, Brazil, the USA, Chile, Belgium, Peru, France, Columbia, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Thailand, Costa Rica, and Switzerland. He has addressed, lectured, and tutored all members of the health care professions, including medical students and doctors, nursing students and nurses, students of physiotherapy and physiotherapists, pharmacists, as well as lawyers and High Court Judges.
Dr. Aarons is currently serving an 8-year appointment by the Director-General of UNESCO to the International Bioethics Committee (The IBC) of UNESCO, the only advisory body within the United Nations system that debates and forms policies on the ethical issues of advances in the life sciences worldwide. He was the Co-coordinator and Co-Editor of the IBC's published Report on “The Principle of Protecting Future Generations” and is likewise currently working on "The Principle of Solidarity and Cooperation"; on the IBC Bureau of UNESCO; and as a Commissioner on the worldwide Anglican Communion Science Commission.
