The Pan American Health Organization and Latin American Bioethics

In a paper published in 1990 (Lolas 1990), I delineated the situation of Chilean biomedical ethics, its main issues, and its potential developments. At the time, Chile was under military rule, and professional associations had lost ethical oversight of their associates. Additionally, medical schools devoted no more than 6% of their academic hours to teaching the humanistic and ethical aspects of medicine, and bioethics as such did not appear in curricula, publication titles, or associations. However, during the 1990s, a strong movement began. The University of Chile established a bioethics commission in 1991, which was formalized in 1992 and organized a meeting entitled the “Institutionalization of Bioethics” that same year. In 1993, the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Bioethics was formally established and began work compiling existing information and forming strategic alliances with other institutions (Lolas 1998). Among the institutions selected, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) proved to be the most important. Its prestige among health care workers, the wide scope of its activities, and the commitment of its authorities were particularly important for establishing a fruitful association.