The Government of Argentina has created the National Bioethics Commission, which will be responsible for evaluating the ethical aspects involved in the development of new technologies related to health. According to the Argentine News Agency (NA), the initiative, created by Decree 893/2025, aims to strengthen the State's response to the ethical, moral, and legal challenges generated by scientific and technological progress by establishing clear criteria that consider all perspectives and guarantee the protection of research subjects and the scientific integrity of clinical trials. The new Commission will be the only governing body in bioethics at the national level. This will allow for the ordering of the current scenario of intervening actors, characterized by fragmentation, overlapping functions, and poorly defined competencies. To this end, the decree provides for the repeal of the National Biomedical Ethics Commission, created in 1998 but which was never fully operational. It also dissolves the Ethics Committee in Research and the National Advisory Committee on Ethics in Research, both under the orbit of the Ministry of Health. The functions of both bodies will be absorbed by the new Commission, thus reinforcing its coordinating role. To ensure its effective operation, the new regulation establishes that the Commission must hold at least two annual meetings. In these meetings, they will work on topics of interest detected by the Commission itself, at the request of individuals or public administration departments, or due to emerging situations that require a bioethical approach. Its main functions will be to advise the Executive Branch and other State agencies; establish ethical standards for health research and the use of new technologies; prepare reports and recommendations; strengthen ties with provincial committees; and promote training, research, and public debate spaces on emerging issues. The body will operate within the scope of the Ministry of Health of the Nation, will be chaired by the Minister of Health of the Nation, Mario Lugones, and will be composed of six full members and three substitutes who must be specialists in ethics, health experts, community representatives, and professionals in disciplines such as Law, Philosophy, Anthropology, or Economics. The Commission may call on academic or professional institutions for the analysis of specific issues, and all will perform their functions on an honorary basis. The Ministry will be responsible for appointing its members through a public and transparent process, dictating the internal regulations, and providing the necessary resources for its operation. The decree also creates the Federal Advisory Council on Ethics in Research, which will be integrated by provincial representatives, and will be in charge of accrediting jurisdictional committees, agreeing on criteria, compiling territorial experiences, and assisting in ethical dilemmas that involve more than one jurisdiction. With this scheme, federal work is strengthened and the interaction between the Nation and provinces is ordered, ensuring that all actors work under homogeneous standards. Through this new institutional design, the national Government seeks to guarantee greater predictability, legal certainty, and coherence in the adoption and application of international standards. The creation of an entity with precise powers, institutional legitimacy, and effective operation will allow for the establishment of clear guidelines for the development of technology applied to health, scientific research, and the resolution of the eventual ethical problems that health legislation and professional practice may face.
