In ERIN we aim for close cooperation and sharing the existing scientific and clinical excellence among the partners to address and overcome two major challenges in reproductive medicine innovations, bringing thereby remarkable change to involved institutions, to the research field, and to society at large.
The two challenges are:
1. Although the innovation and identifying the best solutions to deal with reproductive problems are high on the agenda of every government, research and public community, the scientific discoveries entirely outpace the ethical rules, public awareness and acceptance, creating serious conflicts within the community and thus the urgent need to address these issues.
2. Health care inequities are a serious public health concern. Many treatments in reproductive medicine are not covered by public insurance, and often may disregard the ethical and emotional issues related to human reproduction. Besides economic inequalities, major differences in accessing modern reproductive medicine also stem from the cultural acceptance, public awareness, healthcare professional’s susceptibility to innovation and communication to patients, and availability of technological advances.
By tackling these challenges, the consortium aims to enhance the ethical preparedness of the consortium partners and bring more ethically responsible innovations into clinic that do not harm the interests of the various stakeholders, are evidence-based and cost-effective and therefore could be implemented in a sustainable way to ensure that these novel solutions become widely and equally accessible to as many patients as possible.
The objectives of the project are:
1. to significantly develop capacities at the University of Tartu (UT) in the field of reproductive medicine, by sharing the existing scientific excellence and competencies among the partners with the focus on UT;
2. to better manage the ethical governance system of reproductive research and innovations by defining the underlying ethical challenges and more closely involving the stakeholders and to share the already existing good governance practices, adjusting and composing a comprehensive governance system and
3. to facilitate the equity of access of innovations in the research fields of reproductive medicine.
