Meeting Report
World Conference on Science
26 June - 1 July 1999, Budapest, Hungary
The conference was organised by UNESCO (one of the specialised agencies of the UN with its headquarters located in Paris) and the ICSU - the International Council of Scientific Unions - established in 1931 in Brussels as an international non-governmental and non-profit scientific organisation (with its quarters also located in Paris). In 1998, the ISCU changed its name to the International Council for Science, but it kept its well-known acronym ICSU and the logo. The ICSU's membership comprises 95 multidisciplinary national bodies, scientific research councils or national science academies and 25 international scientific unions. It is the world's most prestigious international organisation, which is why for the past several years the IUPESM has been trying to obtain full membership, despite the fact that it is already one of the 28 scientific associates. The organisers have invited two representatives from the IUPESM to attend the conference. For mainly geographical reasons, these representatives were: Mr Nandor Richter of Hungary, Past President of the IFMBE, Founding Member of the World Academy of Biomedical Technology (a UNESCO-based organisation) and Past Vice-President of the IUPESM (1988-1991), and Oskar A. Chomicki of Poland, Vice-President of the IOMP.
All the plenary sessions of the World Conference were held in the Budapest Convention Centre, others at various other buildings. The conference was attended by over 2,500 participants from all over the world (delegations from 142 countries were represented by between one and thirty participants). The participants were provided with free lunches, telephone cards and were allowed to travel in Budapest by public transport free of charge.
The main topics of the conference, called Forums, were:
- Science: Achievements, Short-comings and Challenges,
- Science and Society, and
- Towards a New Commitment.
For the IUPESM representatives, the most important meeting was that of the Non-Governmental Organi-sations Consultation held on June 27-28 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The only way to submit a 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 the IUPESM representatives (Oskar Chomicki) spoke for 15 minutes on the structure and activities of the IUPESM before a group of some 30 delegates of 29 NGO organisations, and both representatives submitted the following new paragraph for inclusion in 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. The 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 organisations should increasingly rely upon the experience in this field [gained] by some international organisations such as the 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 organisations should increasingly rely upon the experience in this field of the relevant international scientific organisations 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 the 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 wording, it did contain one sentence in the preamble that vaguely resembled the suggestion made by the IUPESM representatives. This 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. What should be emphasised is that the conference overall did not concern itself much with biomedicine, and apart from the above few words, the declaration did not mention any medical problems at all. To show the atmosphere and philosophy of the conference, we include a few sentences from the opening speech of Prof. Arber, President of the ICSU:
'The represented disciplines encompass all of the natural sciences and range from mathematics and astronomy to specialised fields of the life sciences and include, of course, physics, chemistry and the earth sciences. Please note that this roughly corresponds to the definition given to science in the context of our World Conference on Science. Most of what is commonly understood under humanities, social sciences, clinical medicine and engineering is thus not part of our debate on science per se, although some important segment of these fields of knowledge are essential in the evaluation of the impact of science and its application on society'
The aim of organisers and participants was to introduce science into the 21st century as well as win respect for and/or popularise science in their respective societies (especially developing countries). They therefore focused above all on general problems facing mankind, such as poverty (with suggestions by the representatives of some African countries that part of their debts be transformed into financial assistance for research), the historical imbalance in the participation of men and women in all science-related activities, and ethics in scientific endeavour. There were also some rather unusual recommendations like those put forward by one of the founders of the Indian Green Revolution, who suggested that poverty should be eliminated by introducing Internet to Indian villages; he himself initiated this programme in 20 small villages with an annual income of $25!
Among the most important 28 conclusions drawn and adopted were those which proclaimed the importance of
- Science for knowledge; knowledge for progress,
- Science for peace,
- Science for development, and
- Science in society and science for society.
Several dozen researchers and scientific organisers spent several dozen hours on formulating these points in detail with the aim of presenting them to the respective governmental bodies and NGO organisations for implementation.
The general feeling was that the World Conference on Science would not be able to change radically the current situation as regards the development of science throughout the world, especially in emerging and developing countries. This is due mainly to the widespread shortage in financial resources, which, as everybody pointed out, are absolutely indispensable to research and scientific education. Both UNESCO and the ICSU were very clear in this respect: large sums of money cannot be expected from these two organisations. This statement may have a bearing on the IUPESM's hopes for financial assistance in the future. Higher status and wider recognition on the part of the scientific community are two of the most important benefits to be gained from joining the ICSU.
The IUPESM representatives (especially Nandor Richter) tried their best to be seen (although not necessarily heard) among the thousands of participants. In the weeks leading up to and following the conference, potential ties were developed with some representatives from countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Tadjikistan, as well as WHO and CIOMS. As a result, letters calling for support to obtain the membership of the ICSU have been sent out to the academies of science in those countries, although answers have yet to be received.
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Once the IUPESM joins the ICSU and becomes 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 multidisciplinary national bodies, scientific research councils or national science academies and/or international scientific unions in the course of the campaign. 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 recognised importance of the IUPESM by the organisers, which, in its turn, may hopefully be used in future contacts world-wide.
Oscar Chomicki
Nandor Richter