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- Title
Public awareness and regulation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis in Australia.
- Authors
B. H., Van Leeuwen; R., Lamberts; C. L., Jones
- Abstract
Objective: There is no consistent approach to regulation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) across Australian states and territories, and the attitudes of the general public to regulation have not been assessed. This study aimed to evaluate the general public's understanding and attitudes to PGD and to investigate the public's opinions of regulation of this technology. Materials/Methods: An online survey was developed that identified key respondent attributes and individual opinions about PGD and its potential applications. Pilot surveys were used to clarify the questions and information provided and then closed-question surveys were distributed to 250 members of the general public, who were recruited by a company called Research Now. Results: The demographics of the respondents correlated very well with basic demographic variables (gender, age, residential location and religious affiliation) of the Australian population, as determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census data. Marital status (48% married; 20% de-facto relationship; 32% single or other) and level of education (42% completed secondary school; 58% further tertiary or vocational education) were also defined. Most (93%) of the respondents had not heard of PGD, even though 17% had a history of genetic disease in their family. The majority of the respondents (84%) were able to select a correct description of PGD after being given clear, succinct information, regardless of level of education, and expressed strong views about its acceptability and regulation. These included: (i) general acceptance of selection of embryos using PGD to select against fatal genetic disease (79%), mutations leading to disability (50%) and aneuploidy (58%); (ii) less support for selection against nonfatal genetic disease (26%), sex selection for family balancing (16%) and non-medical physical attributes (9%); and (iii) general dissatisfaction with current regulation with 74% of the public preferring government regulation of PGD for medical purposes and 48% supporting prohibition of PGD for nonmedical purposes. Conclusion: This study clearly demonstrated that the public have strong views to contribute to a debate about regulation of the use of PGD in Australia. Most respondents support medical uses of this technology and many reject non-medical uses, with a preference for government regulation. This study is only small (250 respondents) and needs to be expanded to confirm the views identified.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; PREIMPLANTATION genetic diagnosis; PUBLIC opinion; DEMOGRAPHIC characteristics; HUMAN embryos; GENETIC disorder diagnosis
- Publication
Reproductive BioMedicine Online (Reproductive Healthcare Limited), 2008, Vol 16, pS-32
- ISSN
1472-6483
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1016/S1472-6483(10)61376-4