Awarded every two years by UNESCO, is intended to reward the activities of individuals and groups in the field of ethics in science. By thus promoting ethical reflection on issues raised by advances in science and technology, it is expected to help significantly to increase international awareness and highlight the importance of ethics in science. The prize was named after the legendary Persian physician Avicenna.
The first Avicenna Prize was awarded on 26 April 2004 to Professor Margaret Somerville, Director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The prize was then awarded on 14 April 2006 to Professor Abdallah S. Daar, Senior Scientist and Director, Program on Ethics and Commercialization at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health at the University of Toronto, Canada.