[Current trends in bioethics in Canada]

Abstract

In Canada, interest in bioethics intensified during the 1980s when a number of public and private agencies published papers on the opportunities and consequences presented by biotechnology in the industrial, agricultural, and medical fields. Bioethics is now a common subject in the universities, especially in the philosophy and religion study programs. It is also growing in importance as part of the training of health professionals. Several important bioethics centers and the Canadian Bioethics Society constitute a dynamic focus for the promotion of research and academic studies in this field. As in other countries, debate has centered around research involving human subjects, reproductive technologies, abortion, the dying process, organ transplants, and AIDS. Various guidelines and legislative measures have been established to deal with these questions.