Scientific Progress in the Americas from an Ethical Perspective
Washington, DC, January 13, 2004 (PAHO)—The Bioethics program of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) looks back on ten years of existence having helped to raise the Americas' awareness of the need to judge the great technological achievements from an ethical perspective.
The agency was created exactly ten years ago today as part of an agreement between PAHO, the government of Chile and the University of Chile.
Two ceremonies have been scheduled to commemorate the PAHO unit's 10th anniversary:
- On Thursday, Bioethics Unit Director Dr. Fernando Lolas and former Chilean president Patricio Aylwin will attend a commemorative session at the Hall of Honors of the University of Chile, the same room where PAHO's Regional Program in Bioethics was established.
- On Friday, the International Advisory Committee on Bioethics will meet in the University of Chile main building's Sazie Hall. The purpose of the session will be to review the development of bioethics in the Americas over the past decade.
The purpose of PAHO's Bioethics Unit is to increase the capabilities of the nations of the region to carry out "bioethical analysis" through the development of ethics panels. To this end, the Bioethics Unit has designed programs of professional training, seminars and workshops organized in different areas of the Americas. The Unit also edits a magazine, Acta Bioética and a newsletter, Bioética Informa.
Among other achievements, through its work the Bioethics Unit has raised the awareness of government officials and the public about the need to analyze the development of technology from an ethical point of view.
"Bioethics emerges because of the need to analyze, debate and consider in depth medical and medical technology achievements, and how these can influence and modify the ethical decisions that affect human beings," PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago said.
Bioethics is a wide-ranging and emerging discipline in health, which includes the use—among others—of new technologies, transplants and in-vitro fertilization. However, in many countries of the Americas what is also at issue is not just how medical technology can be used in a more humane manner, but who will have access to it.
On this specific issue, Dr. Roses said that bioethics has a social component, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Because of that, solidarity is a concept that affects the challenge of bioethics in the region," she said. "As an organization of technical cooperation, PAHO must work with communities and governments to ensure a fair use and access to the new technologies."
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States, and Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.
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