Excerpt from the Budapest Report

For the IUPESM representatives the most important meeting was that of the Non-Governmental Organizations Consultation held on June 27-28 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. For us the only way to submit our recommendation for inclusion in the Declaration and the Frame of Actions was at the NGO meeting. The revised draft documents, presented by the rapporteur, were accepted by consensus at the closing session of the conference. There was no time for discussion. One of IUPESM’s representatives (Oskar Chomicki) was allowed 15 minutes to present the structure and activities of the IUPESM before a group of some 30 delegates from 29 NGO organizations, and both representatives submitted the following new paragraph to the NGO recommendation:

“Health-related sciences, medical sciences and health-related technological sciences such as medical physics and biomedical engineering are of the greatest importance as a response to human needs. A balanced development and application of these sciences are key factors in health improvement the world over. Emphasis should be put on preventive health technologies with particular reference to the existing needs in developing countries. Governments and international organizations should increasingly rely upon the experience in this field [gained] by some international organizations such as IUPESM”

This paragraph was subsequently edited by NGO rapporteurs, and in the version given below was included in a set of six draft recommendations presented by the NGO to the General Meeting :

“Health-related sciences are of the greatest importance as a response to human needs. A balanced development and application of these sciences, to be inclusive of all groups, are key factors in health improvement the world over. Emphasis should be put on preventive health technologies with particular reference to the existing needs. Governments and international organizations should increasingly rely upon the experience in this field of the relevant international scientific organizations and relevant NGO”.

It can easily be seen that two vital points in the IUPESM paragraph were, unfortunately, omitted, namely those of “medical physics and biomedical engineering” and “such as IUPESM”. Nevertheless, although the final draft version of the “Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge”, the most important document issued at the Conference, did not retain the above formulation, it had one sentence in the Preamble, which vaguely resembled the suggestion made by the IUPESM representatives. It read: “We seek collaboration across all the fields of scientific endeavour, i.e. the natural sciences such as the physical, earth and biological sciences, the biomedical and engineering sciences..”

Better something than nothing.

Once IUPESM has joined ICSU and has become entitled to its full rights, wider international co-operation with NGOs can be started and developed on the basis of these and all other letters sent previously to the multi-disciplinary national bodies, scientific research councils or national science academies and/or international scientific unions during the campaign of soliciting support. The fact that some mention was made of health-related sciences in the final draft Declaration of the Conference may serve as an indirect indication of the recognized importance of the IUPESM by the organizers, which, in turn, may hopefully be used in future contacts worldwide.

Oskar Chomicki and Nandor Richter