The Brazilian Society for Bioethics: a bioethics of commitments

Abstract

In order to document two consecutive terms leading the Sociedade Brasileira de Bioética (the Brazilian Society for Bioethics), the authors provide a retrospect of Brazilian bioethics since the inception of the SBB, including the establishment of dedicated ethical journals, national and international events, and of academic programs aimed at qualifying professionals in multidisciplinary fields and to disseminate this knowledge among Brazilian, Latin-American and Lusophone societies. They emphasize that since the beginning of the bioethical debate in Brazil there has been a clear focus on human rights protection. During the current board’s term, challenges have included population aging in Brazil; the impact of emerging/reemerging illnesses; the increase of urbanization; the impact of technological progress; pressures to lower ethical requirements for human research; economic and communication globalization. This has come amid a severe international economic and political crisis, culminating in Brazil
with the impeachment of an elected president and with the succeeding government proposing privatizations and reforms that will negatively affect workers’ rights. All these points set the agenda for the new term of office.