Abstract
The objective of the study was to assess the mechanism of human subject protection, focusing on the
ethics committee in the central part of the Ministry of Public Health. The methodologies included a literature
review, questionaire, and in-depth interview. The study revealed that most departments in the Ministry
had established ethics committees, i.e., Ministry of Public Health, Department for the Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Department of Medical Services, Department of Disease
Control, Department of Medical Science, Department of Mental Health, and the Health System Research
Institute. There are institutional ethics committees in the Department of Medical Services, e.g., the National
Neurological Institute and the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health. Most members of
the committees are acquainted with international ethical principles and guidelines for research involving
humans. The composition of the committees is in line with international guidelines. Each committee has
its own guidelines and standard operating procedures. Only one committee has been surveyed, evaluated,
and recognized by the SIDCER/FERCAP Recognition Program, i.e., the Ethics Committee for Thai
Traditional and Alternative Medicine. Since research is not the first priority of the Ministry of Public
Health, there are some shortcomings that need to be considered for correction and improvement. Most
medical and health journals have no policy requiring the ethical clearance of studies submitted for publication.
Most ethics committees focus only on a preview of the protocol, with no proactive activities on
continuous review or site visits. Most committees review both scientific and ethical aspects; meanwhile,
most members of ethics committees have limited knowledge and experience in research on advanced and
complicated sciences. The support of most committees is inadequate. Information techno-logy is not fully
used by most committees. Some committees have problems in conducting timely reviews and there may
be doubts about their independence in some cases.
