Bioethics' Unit Thematic Areas

By the nature of its institutional aims, the Bioethics Unit interacts with many institutions in varied areas. Its thematic emphases are expected to vary according to challenges and demands of the intellectual, political and institutional context. Currently, however, some of its priority areas are the following:

Public, communitary and international health

According to programmatic goals of PAHO, the community and social dimension of health care has particular relevance for countries in the Region. Inequity constitutes a dominant problem in health services and demands policy formulations consonant with common but diverse conditions of nations, and ethnic, gender and aging groups in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Bioethical thinking complements and deepens decision - making in this context, emphasizing the role of values in policy formulation and increasing the awareness of legislators, experts and service users towards present and future challenges.

Clinical Ethics

The introduction of bioethical reflection and the creation of ethics review have substantially modified clinical work committees. Their adequate management demands permanent examination of their conceptual and administrative bases, continuous education of their members and adequate specification of procedures, respecting the different values and the diverse legal background of the countries in the Region.

Scientific Research

The impact of technoscientific research on human life and health has been one of the most decisive factors for the development of bioethics. The Unit aims at maintaining a permanent dialogue with those individuals and institutions responsible for the formulation and conduction of studies, especially those involving respect for autonomy, justice, dignity and the rights of persons, animals, environment and future generations.

Education and Information

The Unit participates in the education of experts and the general public through information dissemination activities, training and education. As the 1994-1997 Quadrennial Report of PAHO Director expresses, creation and dissemination of information are at the center of PAHO activities. The Program selects and organizes information in order to make it useful for the needs of diverse audiences: general public, experts from different disciplines, politicians, legislators, healthcare personnel and social communicators. Education is conceived as a selection of content and media rather than as a collection of information. Bioethics contributes to articulate data and information into socially and morally sustainable knowledge for different population groups.

Interfaces and emergent challenges

Because of the plural nature of its goals, the content and context of work on bioethics may and should change. HBE aims not only at reacting to dilemmas posed by science and technology but also at anticipating them in a proactive fashion, devising scenarios and proposals. This prospective function helps to identify social processes and developments with an impact on health and welfare. Interfaces are thus created with aging population, reproductive health, mental health and social processes with an influence on health (such as violence). HBE contributes to the selection and institutionalization of those technical, conceptual and legislative answers pertinent to PAHO/WHO goals.