Bioethics: face off

Some of the most contentious ethical issues such as face transplants, saviour siblings, as well as paternity and genetic testing will take centre stage at the World Congress of Bioethics being held at UNSW this month.

"The Congress will challenge people's ideas on what is included in bioethics and the manner of addressing these issues by different cultures," said Congress President, Associate Professor Paul McNeill, from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW.

"People think of bioethics as about cloning and genetics - but it is much broader than that. It is about things which affect large numbers of people from ethics surrounding indigenous and refugee health through to equity of care.

"The theme of the Congress reflects these concerns," said Professor McNeill. "It is Deep Listening: bridging divides in local and global ethics which is about really listening to and understanding people from different backgrounds and what it is that they need."

Highlights of the 7th biennial Congress, which runs from 9 -12 November, include:

Face Transplantation: Surveying the Preliminary Ethical Issues

Should selecting saviour siblings be banned?

Robbing Peter to pay Paul: the Inappropriate Use of Children in Compelled Organ donation

Organ donation and the family veto Xenotransplantation as a strategy to reverse diabetes

What is the ethical basis for paternal rights and responsibilities?

Assisted conceptions: Twenty years down the tube?

The ethics of researching with vulnerable refugee populations