International Bioethics Workshop "Adolescence and Medical Care" Held

January 5 and 6, 2009

On January 5 (Mon.) and 6 (Tue.), 2009, a closed international bioethics workshop was held in French, on the theme "Adolescence and Medical Care," in RPG Room 2 of the School of Government, Kyoto University.

The Workshop was held jointly by the Project for Developing a Basic Law of Bioethics and Réseau Universitaire International de Bioéthique (International Academic Bioethics Network). The Project is led by Ryuichi Ida, (Professor, School of Government, Kyoto University) as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid, Scientific Research (B). The Network is headquartered at the University of Rennes, France. With cooperation from the Embassy of France in Japan, the Workshop drew a total of 20 participants from the following 15 countries: France, Japan, Belgium, U.S., Germany, Tunisia, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, U.K and Canada. As Japanese participants, Prof. Ida and Prof. Naomi Wakasugi of Waseda University attended the Workshop.

While it is necessary to offer protection to adolescents as minors, it is also necessary to respect their sense of independence in consideration of their age. How are the two requirements ensured in each country? The two-day Workshop served as a good opportunity to fully discuss the issue in terms of comparison and ethics. Based on reports from each country regarding its legal system and actual situations, the Workshop dealt with a wide range of issues, such as the legal status of minors and systems for their protection, definition of "adolescence," special characteristics of medical care for minors, universality and diversity of legal protection for minors, legal representative systems, and refusal of medical care.

The results of the discussion will be published in French and English.