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Histoy

• The Regional Program on Bioethics (currently Bioethics Unit) was established in Santiago of Chile in 1994 through a tree - part agreement between the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the University of Chile and the Government of Chile. In 2000, the 42nd Directive Council of PAHO, after examining its activities and development, recommended its continuation and proposed to the Member States to foster the bioethical reflection in the context of its plans and programs of assistance and research in health, Resolution CD42.R6 of September 2000. The Regional Program on Bioethics has promoted the development of bioethical reflection, has collaborated in activities programmed by academic institutions and of service, has carried out researches and surveys, and has contributed to the work of PAHO Representations in the majority of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mission

• The Unit is a technical program of the Area of Health Systems Strengthening which collaborates with public and private institutions in developing and applying concepts and procedures appropriate to the ethical sustainability of decisions regarding scientific research, technical training, professional development, health care and formulation of local and interlocal healthcare policies.

Vision

• The Program constitutes an institutional response to the challenge of deriving ethically sustainable results from technological and scientific research and its applications to the health field. Bioethics deals with ethics of the health professions in a perspective open to dialogue, pluralism, and integration of moral certitudes. It represents an interdisciplinary field related to human welfare, technological and scientific progress and environmental preservation.

Objectives

• Initiate, promote and support activities related to the ethical assessment of results and procedures from biomedical and psychosocial research, health care and general or professional education.
• Contribute to the academic and applied development of health-related interdisciplines from the standpoint of bioethical methods and procedures.
• Collaborate with PAHO/WHO Divisions, Institutes and Centers in the formulation, implementation, realization, and evaluation of plans, programs and projects.
• Identify individuals and institutions involved in bioethical reflection and develop interaction networks for the strengthening of research, teaching, and public communication.
• Serve as reference point for conceptualizing emergent problems related to accessibility, equity, values, and social support of public policies on healthcare.
• Develop ties with centers and organisms outside Latin America and the Caribbean in order to stress the regional specificity in contents and policies. Contribute to world literature in bioethical matters.

Principal Activities

• The Bioethics Unit stimulates, fosters, supports and implements conferences, courses, seminaries and workshops in all the countries of the Region, altogether with other organisms of PAHO and their Representations, in the framework of the technical collaboration for the development of human resources in Bioethics.
• The Bioethics Unit collaborates with the development of basic and advanced academic programs for training, capacitating and improving health professionals' work and those in other related areas.
• The Bioethics Unit participates in the design and formulation of policies for scientific research according to the PAHO/WHO objectives in the area of the countries of the Region.
• The Bioethics Unit keeps a Documentation Center and Data Bases about interdisciplinary matters that belong to the bioethics field.
• The Bioethics Unit supports publications and programs that have as goal the conceptual strengthening, diffusion and rigor of the applied ethical work that is been developed in the countries of the Region.
• The Bioethics Unit publishes periodically technical documents, monographs, study texts and informative bulletins to document and preserve regional contributions to the bioethical field.
• The Bioethics Unit collaborates with the Interdisciplinary Center for Studies on Bioethics of the University of Chile in keeping a web site that serves as a bibliographic reference tool, source of original documentation and information about the development of bioethics in the countries of the Region.
• The Bioethics Unit operates as an intermediary among experts, general public, legislators, researchers and planners in the experiences interchange, concepts and priorities to contrast, articulate and harmonize divergent ways of thinking about ethical implications of science, technology and administration.

Informes de actividades

Informe de Actividades 2005-2006 (en PDF)
Informe de Actividades 2003-2004 (en PDF)
Informe de Actividades 2000 (en PDF)
Sinopsis histórica 1994-1999 (en PDF)