General Commission on Bioethics
The Order's General Commission on Bioethics and the European Working
Group met on 27 and 28 June.
It was the final in-person meeting of this sexennium. During the first
day, they reported on the work and dynamics in the various regions of the
Order. Earlier they had read the final report of the sexennium, highlighting
the interest and readiness of everyone to continue working and making progress
in this area.
They also had the opportunity to glimpse the future way ahead in regard
to the manner and objectives of this commission to serve as a basis for those
who will have to invigorate the issue in the coming years.
On the second day, a few of the members of the European Working Group
were also present. It had a more formative character and involved the sharing
of real-life experiences. The format saw Dr. Montserrat Esquerda, President of the Borja Institute of Bioethics
give a presentation on Artificial Intelligence and its implications in the
world of healthcare from an ethical perspective. Dr. Jose M Galán shared the
experience of how a Health Care Ethics Committee had been set up, in order to
illustrate motivations, dynamics and to share the experience. Finally, Dr.
Jürgen Wallner, coordinator of the European group, presented one specific
example of how requests reach the ethics group, how it works, the people
involved and the purpose of the ethics consultation.
The attendees expressed their positive and grateful appreciation for the
contributions and dialogue that had been forthcoming over these two days. We
offer a well-deserved thank you to all the people who have been working on this
Commission and Working Group.