Strasbourg, 7 November 2023                                                                                             CDBIO (2023) 31

STEERING COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

IN THE FIELDS OF BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTH (CDBIO)

HORIZON SCANNING EVENT: Questionnaire

Prepared by the Drafting Group on horizon scanning for SAP

The Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO) at the Council of Europe is engaging in a horizon scanning exercise. The purpose of this horizon scanning exercise is to facilitate the early identification of developments in biomedicine and health that might raise ethics issues and human rights challenges and help CDBIO prioritise topics for the development of its new Strategic Action Plan 2026-2029.

The current Strategic Action Plan on human rights and technologies in biomedicine (2020 – 2025)  is organised around the pillars of governance, equity and integrity, with transversal pillar of cooperation and communication.  

The Committee recognises that the emergence and convergence of technologies (e.g. genomics and AI), the evolution of practices in healthcare (e.g. telemedicine), as well as the changes in societal attitudes (e.g. differing notions of what constitutes pathophysiology, changes in perception of gender or ageing), can lead to novel challenges for human rights and which require specific attention.

Your answers to the questions below will be used to help us frame and develop our work more effectively.

Horizon scanning for the purposes of this questionnaire includes the identification of human rights challenges and ethical issues raised by likely future developments in the field of biomedicine and health in next 5 to 10 years, that are at the margins of current thinking and planning. This can include issues/current practices that already present human rights and ethical challenges, as well as those issues most likely to arise with novel approaches or as a result of technological advances.

1.    Please identify current issues in the field of biomedicine and health where there are (a) significant gaps in respect of ethical tools/guidelines to address such issues (b) barriers, and/or major areas of contention in how to apply available ethical tools/guidelines to such issues

2.    Please identify and describe any emerging societal or healthcare trends related to human rights that you foresee in the next 5 to 10 years.

(i) Please indicate the ethical concerns they raise

3.    Are there specific technologies or practices that you consider will have significant implications for human rights in bioethics and health in the next 5 to 10 years?

(i) Please indicate the technology(ies)/practice(s) and ethical concerns they raise

4.     How should national and international policies and regulations evolve to address human rights concerns in biomedicine and health e.g. soft law instruments, international conventions?

5.    How can interdisciplinary collaboration between bioethicists, healthcare professionals, human rights advocates and policymakers be enhanced to address emerging challenges effectively?

6.    Free Section: please use this space to provide any additional comments, insights, or recommendations related to horizon scanning in bioethics and health with a focus on human rights.

7.    Please indicate whether your institution has carried out a horizon scanning exercise?

If so, please give the link to the most recent document or to a summary in English of French