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Ewha Institute for Biomedical Law & Ethics Holds International Conference - Justice in Delivering Health Care to Aging Society
The Ewha Institute for Biomedical Law & Ethics (EIBLE, Director Chang Young-Min) at Ewha Law School successfully held an international academic conference under the theme of “Justice in Delivering Health Care to Aging Society: Its legal and Ethical Issues” on Oct. 15, 2016. Marking the 11th year of its founding, EIBLE has focused on biomedical law and bioethics in Korea, publishing various publications and holding a diverse range of seminars and academic conferences. Moreover, it is making significant efforts to become an internationally recognized institute in the field of bioethics by regularly publishing a journal titled 『Asia Pacific Journal of Health Law & Ethics』.
As an extension of EIBLE’s activities, the aforementioned conference concentrated on the issue of old age, which is closely related to various bioethical issues in the field of medicine. The vulnerability of the elderly results in their heavy dependence on medical care, and moreover, expectations on the improvement of living standards through the extension of the average lifespan and regenerative medicine achieved through the development of medical technology are causing an entirely different set of bioethical problems that are unprecedented in traditional society. In this regard, the institute organized this conference as a part of its aims to study and suggest appropriate legal and institutional measures in order to offer more humane care and other services required by the elderly in an aging society. In addition, the conference was in line with EIBLE’s primary goal to provide a venue for domestic and overseas scholars who have experienced such problems of aging societies to share their research results in order to reinterpret their implications and seek ways to apply them to Korean society and culture.
At the conference, which was held jointly by EIBLE and the Korean National Institute for Bioethics Policy, 9 overseas scholars from around the world including the United States, Spain, and India and 12 leading Korean scholars who are active in the field of bioethics each gave an individual presentation. Following each presentation, scholars focusing on the same topic held a free discussion and Q&A session with the audience.
The conference was divided into five distinct sections based on the overall theme: Conflicts on public health expenditure between generations; self-determination of the elderly in healthcare services; development of health technology and healthcare for the elderly; medical treatment for terminal patients; and elderly rights in an aging society.
