Vatican_Final program booklet for printer

WMA European Region Meeting
on End-of-Life Questions
16-17 November 2017
Aula Vecchia del Sinodo, Vatican
Foreword
Welcome to the World Medical Association’s European Region Meeting on End-of-Life Questions, jointly
organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life, the World Medical Association and the German Medical
Association.
Many countries around the world have increasingly faced crucial policy debates about euthanasia,
physician-assisted suicide and end-of-life issues in recent years. Life-saving improvements in medical
technology and increasing life expectancy have brought these issues to the fore in the global medical
profession, its representative organizations, and consequently the World Medical Association (WMA).
Given the range of approaches to these issues embraced by some of the 114 member organizations of
the WMA, it is only natural for end-of-life questions to be actively explored and analyzed in the
development of policy papers, as well as in the context of the WMA’s annual in-person meetings.
To build upon these vibrant discussions and lay bare the current state of debate in various parts of the
world, the WMA, prompted by its Medical Ethics Committee, initiated a series of regional conferences to
be held in cities on nearly all continents, including Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and now, the Vatican City for
the European region.
Here in this two-day conference in the historic Aula Vecchia del Sinodo, we will hear from medical
professionals, legal authorities, experts in palliative care and medical ethics, theological scholars and
philosophers who will share their insights on a broad spectrum of opinions on end-of-life issues from a
uniquely European perspective.
In the spirit of openness, respect and exchange, we welcome you, the audience, to contribute your voice
to this dialogue on one of the most deeply personal issues faced by medical professionals worldwide.
Prof. Dr Frank Ulrich Montgomery
President
German Medical Association
Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro
Chancellor
Pontifical Academy for Life
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08:15 Doors open for registration and admission – please arrive early to pass through security
Chair: Dr Ramin Parsa-Parsi, Head of the Department for International Affairs, German Medical Association
Chair: Dr Matilde Leonardi, Scientific Director, Coma Research Centre, Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan
09:00 – 09:45 Welcome
WMA: Dr Yoshitake Yokokura, President, World Medical Association
GMA: Prof. Dr Frank Ulrich Montgomery, President, German Medical Association
Message from Pope Francis, delivered by one of his delegates
PAV: Archbishop Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia, President, Pontifical Academy for Life
09:45 – 11:00 I. Setting the stage: Three perspectives on end-of-life questions
End-of-life questions: Perspectives from the global medical profession
Prof. Dr Frank Ulrich Montgomery, President, German Medical Association; Vice-Chair, World
Medical Association
Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Balancing autonomy and compassion
Dr René Héman, Chairman, Royal Dutch Medical Association
Assisted suicide in Switzerland: Practice and challenges
Dr Yvonne Gilli, Board Member, Swiss Medical Association
Immediate questions (to be continued in plenary panel discussion on Friday in session VIII)
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00 II. Theological approaches
Suffering at the end of life. Christian references and their use.
Prof. Marie-Jo Thiel, Director, European Centre for Teaching and Research in Ethics, and
Professor of Ethics and Moral Theology, University of Strasbourg
End-of-life questions from the Jewish perspective
Dr Riccardo Di Segni, Rabbino Capo, Comunità Ebraica di Roma
Ethical evaluation of end-of-life questions from the Islamic perspective
Prof. Dr Ilhan Ilkilic, Professor and chair of the Department of History of Medicine and Ethics,
Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine
An Orthodox perspective on suffering at the end of life
Dr Daniela Mosoiu, Director for Education and National Development, Hospice “Casa Sperantei”
Discussion
Day 1 – Thursday, 16 November 2017
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13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
Chair: Dr Andrew Dearden, Treasurer and Council Member, British Medical Association
Chair: Prof. Dr Carlos Centeno, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra
14:00 – 14:45 III. Delineating euthanasia and PAS in the systems of Common and Roman Law
Euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide and the common law
Prof. John Keown, Professor of Christian Ethics, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown
University
Euthanasia and PAS
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Volker Lipp, Professor of Civil Law, Civil Procedure, Medical Law and Comparative
Law, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen; Member of GMA’s Central Ethics Committee
Discussion
14:45 – 15:00 IV. Guide on the decision-making process regarding medical treatment in end-of-life situations
Guide on the decision-making process regarding medical treatment in end-of-life situations
Dr Laurence Lwoff, Head of Bioethics Unit, Human Rights Directorate, Council of Europe
15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 17:00 V. Compassionate use and conscientious objection
Is medical assistance in dying a platitudinous medical treatment?
Prof. Dr Leonid Eidelman, President, Israeli Medical Association
Conscientious objections in end-of-life care
Prof. Chris Gastmans, Professor of Medical Ethics, University of Leuven
Medical compassion at the end of life
Prof. Pablo Requena, MD, STD, Professor of Moral Theology, Pontifical University of the Holy
Cross, Delegate of the Vatican Medical Association to the WMA
Discussion
17:00 Closing
18:15
Tour of Vatican Museum (Meet at Sant’ Anne Gate), followed by Gala Dinner in the Vatican
Museum
Day 1 – Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Chair: Dr Heidi Stensmyren, President, Swedish Medical Association
Chair: Prof. Stefano Semplici, Past Chair, UNESCO International Bioethics Committee
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome and recap of first day
Dr Otmar Kloiber, Secretary General, World Medical Association
9:15 – 10:15 VI. Is there a right to determine one’s own death?
Is there a right to determine one’s own death? – The ethical perspective(s)
Prof. Dr Urban Wiesing, Institute for Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tuebingen
Right to live, right to die?
Prof. Dr Christiane Druml, Chairperson of the Austrian Bioethics Commission and UNESCO Chair of
Bioethics at the Medical University of Vienna
On rights and risks: The case against physician assisted suicide and killing on demand
Prof. Dr Stephan Sahm, Director Medical Clinic I, Ketteler Hospital, Offenbach, Professor, Institute
for History and Ethics in Medicine, Frankfurt University
Immediate questions (to be continued in plenary panel discussion in the afternoon in session
VIII)
10:15 – 11:00 VII. Treatment limitations vs. euthanasia. End stage decisions about medication, feeding and
terminal sedation
Sedation, nutrition, hydratation at the end of life: How to decide?
Dr Anne de la Tour, President of the French Society of Palliative Care, Argenteuil
As in all other clinical situations: Choose effective treatment with minimal risks
Dr Gunnar Eckerdal, Dept. of Oncology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Discussion
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
Day 2 – Friday, 17 November 2017
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Day 2 – Friday, 17 November 2017
11:30 – 13:00 VIII. Dealing with public and published opinions
A patient’s perspective – First notes
Dr Marco Greco, President, European Patients’ Forum
The Finnish experience of the public debate
Dr Heikki Pälve, Past CEO, Finnish Medical Association
End-of-life and public discourse in democratic society
Prof. Ralf J. Jox, Institute for Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine, University of Munich;
Geriatric Palliative Care, University Hospital Lausanne
Portraying assisted suicide and euthanasia
Baroness Ilora Finlay, Professor of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University; Crossbench Peer, House
of Lords
Discussion
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
Chair: Dr Ardis Hoven, Chair of Council, World Medical Association
Chair: Prof. John Keown, Professor of Christian Ethics, Kennedy Institute of Ethics
14:00 – 15:30 IX. Is there a need to change policy? – Plenary panel discussion
Panelists:
Dr Yvonne Gilli, Board Member, Swiss Medical Association
Dr Matilde Leonardi, Scientific Director, Coma Research Centre, Istituto Neurologico Carlo Best,
Milan
Prof. Dr Urban Wiesing, Institute for Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tuebingen
Prof. Dr Stephan Sahm, Director Medical Clinic I, Ketteler Hospital, Offenbach, Professor,
Institute for History and Ethics in Medicine, Frankfurt University
Dr René Héman, Chairman, Royal Dutch Medical Association
Prof. Dr Frank Ulrich Montgomery, President, German Medical Association
15:30 Closing remarks
Archbishop Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia, President, Pontifical Academy for Life
15:35 Coffee and farewell
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Chairs and speakers
Prof. Dr Carlos Centeno is professor and director of the Department of Palliative Medicine of the
Hospital University of Navarra (Spain) and director of ATLANTES research group, Institute Culture and
Society of the University of Navarra. This group has extensive experience in ATLAS studies of the global
development of palliative care in the world. In the clinical field, its publications focus on symptomatic
control, particularly on asthenia. He has investigated on the concepts of dignity in care and gratitude in
the professional-patient relationship. He is a professor of palliative medicine at the University of Navarra
and maintains an original line of research on medical education in palliative care in undergraduate
courses.
Dr Andrew Dearden is the treasurer of the BMA and a member of BMA council. He has previously
served as chairman of both the BMA’s pensions committee and BMA Wales council. As chair of the
pensions committee, he led the BMA in our NHS pension negotiations from 2006-2009. In the past he
has chaired the BMA Wales GP trainee committee, the GPC (Wales) and the BMA’s community care
committee. He was also involved in the GMS negotiations between 2003 and 2006. Dr Dearden is
currently a GP based in Cardiff and a fellow of the BMA and Royal College of GPs.
Dr Anne de La Tour, a former nurse and now a doctor, has been working in palliative care for the last 25
years, mainly in France, and in the UK. She is now the Head of a Palliative Care and Chronical Pain
department near Paris. She is also the president of the SFAP, French Society of Palliative Care. The SFAP
is at the same time a learned society and a civil movement which regroups thousands of Palliative Care
professionals and accompanying volunteers. It works hard to improve end-of-life conditions in France
through scientific research and political action. She is married and mother of four children.
Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni is the chief rabbi of Rome. A specialist in diagnostic radiology, he is descended
from three generations of rabbis. He completed his rabbinical studies in 1973 and was elected chief
rabbi of Rome in 2001.
Prof. Dr Christiane Druml was born in Vienna and studied law at the University of Vienna. Currently she
is holding the UNESCO Chair on Bioethics and serves as Director of Ethics, Collections and History at
Medicine of the Medical University of Vienna. Since 2007, she has been President of the Austrian
National Bioethics Commission and a member of the Medical Council of the Republic of Austria. Among
other international responsibilities, she serves on the scientific council of the “Agence nationale de
sécurité du medicament et des produits de la santé (ANSM),”in France. In 2011, she was awarded the
Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Arts and the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, France.
Dr Gunnar Eckerdal, *1953, has been engaged in palliative medicine for 35 years. He started as
geriatrician in home-care, and has for 25 years worked in hospice and in palliative supportive teams. For
3 years, he has been a consultant in pain medicine in the department of oncology, Sahlgrenska
University Hospital, Göteborg. Gunnar Eckerdal has been engaged in developing national ethical
guidelines and teaches young doctors in topics like “Decision process in clinical practice”, “Do not
resuscitate, DNR”, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, PAS.
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Dr Leonid Eidelman completed his MD in 1975 in Latvia, where he worked in anaesthesiology/intensive
care medicine until moving to Israel. Since 1997, Dr. Eidelman has served as the Head of
Anaesthesiology and Director of O.R. Management at Rabin Medical Center. He is currently serving his
second term as president of the Israeli Medical Association. Dr Eidelman served as the chairman of the
Israel Society of Anesthesiologists from 2002 to 2005. In 1989, Dr Eidelman began tutoring residents in
anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School. Dr Eidelman
lectures and teaches medical students at the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, where he
is an associate professor of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine. He frequently lectures in Israel
and abroad on health and medical issues and has published many articles in the fields of Anesthesiology
and Intensive Care Medicine.
Professor the Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, FRCP, FRCGP, FMedSci, FHEA, FLSW, FCEM, is Hon. Professor
of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University; developed palliative /hospice services across Wales to establish
7day services plus 24/7 advice; patient evaluation through iWantGreatCare. UK lead of UNESCO chair in
bioethics. She chairs the National Mental Capacity Forum (Ministry of Justice and Dept of Health).
Crossbench Peer and was on Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. She co-
chairs the think-tank Living and Dying Well and also served on ELCPAD group for BMA. Vice-President:
Marie Curie Care; Hospice UK. Past President: Medical Women’s Federation, British Medical Association,
Royal Society of Medicine, Association for Palliative Medicine. President; Chartered Society for
Physiotherapy.
Prof. Chris Gastmans is Full Professor of Medical Ethics and Director of the Centre for Biomedical Ethics
and Law, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium. From 2002 till 2015, he was member of the Bureau –
as Secretary General, Treasurer, and President – of the European Association of Centres of Medical
Ethics (EACME) to which 66 centres for medical ethics in Europe are affiliated. Chris Gastmans is the
coordinator of various empirical and philosophical research projects regarding ethical issues in care for
older adults and end-of-life care. He published more than 120 peer reviewed articles and book chapters.
He recently co-edited ‘Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Lessons from Belgium’ (2017, Cambridge
University Press).
Dr Yvonne Gilli became a medical doctor after studies at the University of Zurich with a specialization in
Internal Medicine. She was a member of the National Council of Switzerland from 2007 – 2015. Since
1996 she has engaged in medical work in her own medical office in Wil SG. She has been a member of
the Board of the Swiss Medical Association since 2016. She was also a member of the foundation board
of the Swiss NGO for patients from 2011 – 2014, held the presidency for Eastern Part of Switzerland
from 2015 – 2017 and has been a member of the supervisory board xundart AG, a managed care
organization, since 2010.
Dr Marco Greco is chairman of the European Patients’ Forum and past chair of the European Federation
of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Associations. He is patients’ representative in the Pharmacovigilance
Risk Assessment Committee at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and a member of the EMA
Patients and Consumers Working Party (PCWP). After an LL.MM in Law, he has earned a Ph.D in Law and
Religion (Discipline canonistiche ed ecclesiasticistiche) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milano,
where he still collaborates as assistant of Prof. Romeo Astorri (Canon law, History and Systems of
Church-State relationships) after a period of research spent at George Washington University School of
Law, in Washington D.C. (USA). His main area of research focuses on the relationship between law and
religion in the healthcare system. He is a lawyer working as law consultant and attorney.
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Chairs and speakers
Dr René Héman has chaired the Board of the Royal Medical Association since March 2016. He is doctor
of Public Health and worked as managing director and deputy director in several health care institutions
in the Netherlands and several countries in Africa. He is also a board member of the PGGM pension
administrator for Health Care and Welfare staff and Chairman of the Federation of professional
organizations, union for health care professionals.
Dr Ardis Dee Hoven, M.D., an internal medicine and infectious disease specialist residing in Lexington
Kentucky currently serves as the Chair of Council of the World Medical Association. Prior to this work,
Dr. Hoven served as President of the American Medical Association and also served as Chair of the Board
of Trustees of the AMA. Dr. Hoven received her undergraduate degree in microbiology and her medical
school education from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She completed her internal medicine and
infectious disease training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. As a physician and during the
AIDS epidemic, she became an educator and leader in the state regarding the appropriate care and
treatment of patients with HIV and AIDS. Ultimately her interest in health policy issues led her to
leadership positions within many organizations in the United States. Dr. Hoven currently is Professor of
Medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and serves as an Infectious Disease
Consultant to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Prof. Dr Ilhan Ilkilic, MD, PhD, has studied medicine, philosophy, Islamic science and oriental philology
in Istanbul, Bochum and Tübingen. His special interests include genetics and ethics, intercultural
bioethics, Islamic biomedical ethics and ethical issues at the end of life. He is since 2012 member of the
German Ethics Council. He is currently Professor and Director at the Department of History of Medicine
and Ethics at the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Institute for Health Sciences
at the Istanbul University.
Prof. Dr Ralf J. Jox, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Geriatric Palliative Care at Lausanne University
Hospital, Switzerland, and Assistant Professor for Medical Ethics at the University of Munich, Germany.
His research focuses on end-of-life ethics, geriatrics ethics, neuroethics, and clinical ethics. He studied
medicine at the Universities of Freiburg, Munich and Harvard Medical School. As a philosophical ethicist,
Dr Jox was trained at the Jesuit School of Philosophy in Munich and King’s College London. He authored
a well-known book on end-of-life decisions and has critically contributed to the political discussion on
the German law on assisted suicide.
Prof. John Keown DCL (Oxon.) holds the Rose Kennedy Chair in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at
Georgetown University. Formerly, he taught the law and ethics of medicine in the Cambridge Law
Faculty. His books include Euthanasia Examined (CUP, 1995); Euthanasia, Ethics and Public Policy (CUP,
2002; 2nd edition forthcoming 2018); Debating Euthanasia (with Emily Jackson; Hart, 2012); The Law
and Ethics of Medicine (OUP, 2012); and Bioethics and the Human Goods (with Alfonso Gómez-Lobo;
GUP, 2015). His research on euthanasia has been cited by the Law Lords and by the US Supreme Court.
Dr Otmar Kloiber is Secretary General of the World Medical Association since 2005. Before he was
Deputy Secretary General of the German Medical Association. He holds an MD (1984) and PhD (1986)
from University of Cologne, was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at the
University of Minnesota, and was a scientific research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for
Neurological Research. He holds an honorary doctorate by the Victor Babes University, Timisoara,
Romania and was appointed Clinical Professor in Health Administration at the Brooks College of Health,
University of North Florida from 2009 to 2013.
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Dr Matilde Leonardi is a neurologist and paediatrician. At Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Besta
she is developing and carrying out research projects related to chronic diseases and employment,
disability, ageing, public health, ICF (WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health). Dr. Leonardi is a WHO expert on disability and ageing and co-chair of the WHO-FIC (Family of
International Classifications) Functioning and Disability Reference Group. Coordinator and partner of
several, EU- and non EU-funded research projects. She is a consultant on public health, UNCRPD
monitoring and disability policy development for several European and extra European governments.
She is also an expert for the European Commission on public health, ageing, disability and
neurosciences. In 2011, she was appointed as corresponding member of the Pontificia Academia Pro
Vita. She is a Professor of Neuropsychiatric Aspects of Disability and member since 2007 of the Board of
Directors of the Bioethics Centre at the Catholic University of Milan. From 2010 to 2013, she was
appointed by the Italian government as president of the Scientific Committee of the National
Observatory on Disability.
Prof. Dr Volker Lipp (* 1962) holds the Chair of Civil Law, Civil Procedure, Medical Law and Comparative
Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Göttingen, Germany. He was, inter alia, Founding Director and is
now Director of the Göttingen Center for Medical Law. He has also been Visiting Professor at the
University of Bergen, Norway, and at Chuo-University, Tokyo, Japan. He is honorary member of the
Japan Adult Guardianship Association and became Doctor et Professor honoris causa of Eötvös Lorand
University, Budapest, Hungary in 2016. Volker Lipp is a Member of the Commission for Fundamental
Ethical and Medico-Legal Issues of the Board of the German Medical Association (since 2007), and a
Member of the Central Ethics Commission at the German Medical Association (since 2010). He is also
Member of the Ethics Committee for Medical Research at the University Medical Center Göttingen. In
2016 he has been appointed by the President of the the German Federal Parliament to the German
Ethics Council. His research focuses on medical law, family law, and civil procedure, both in Germany as
well as on the European and international level, and he has published and lectured extensively in these
fields.
Dr Laurence Lwoff holds a MSc. in reproductive physiology from the University of Paris VI – Jussieu
(France). She then obtained her degree from the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (France)
in 1986 and received her PhD in molecular biology in 1989. She joined the Council of Europe in 1991 in
the Directorate of Legal Affairs. She was the Secretary of the International Conference of the Council of
Europe on Ethical Issues Arising from the Applications of Biotechnology (Oviedo, Spain, May 1999). In
2002, she joined the Bioethics Department where she has been responsible in particular for the
activities on human genetics and on the protection of the human embryo and the foetus. She was the
Secretary of the Group in charge of the elaboration of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on
Human Rights and Biomedicine, concerning Genetic Testing for Health Purposes. Since 2013, she is
currently the Head of Bioethics Unit (DGI – Human Rights Directorate) and Secretary of the Committee
on Bioethics (DH-BIO), intergovernmental committee in charge of the activities on the protection of
human rights in the biomedical field, at the Council of Europe.
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Chairs and speakers
Prof. Dr Frank Ulrich Montgomery, a radiologist from Hamburg, was elected President of the German
Medical Association (GMA) in 2011. Before assuming this position, he had been Vice-President of the
GMA since 2007 and a member of the Executive Board between 1987 and 2002, and again from 2006.
Prof. Montgomery was Chairman of the Marburger Bund, the professional organisation of the hospital-
based and employed physicians of Germany, from 1989 until 2007. He currently serves as vice-
chairperson of the World Medical Association (WMA) and treasurer of the Standing Committee of
European Doctors (CPME).
Dr Daniela Mosoiu trained as oncologist with subspecialty in palliative care and serves as Director for
Education and National Development at HOSPICE Casa Sperantei and leader of the Romanian palliative
care movement. She supervises the educational programs, national development and advocacy work in
Romania for development of palliative care services and integration in the national health care system.
She also offers education and support for palliative care development in 18 other Central and Eastern
European countries. She is President of Palliative Care Advisory Commission of the Romanian Health
Ministry. She coordinates the master’s program at Transylvania University and the Palliative Care
Subspecialty National Program. She also has extensive experience and expertise in project management,
research projects, nationally and internationally. She is member of the EAPC Board, the Editorial Board
of the European Journal of Palliative Care and Paliatia.
Archbishop Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia was born in Boville Ernica (Frosinone, Italy) in 1945 and obtained the
degree in theology and philosophy from the Lateran University and another one in pedagogy from the
University of Urbino. He was ordained as priest in 1970, and from 1981 to 2000 served as parish priest in
the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome; he was also the ecclesiastical assistant of the
Community of Sant’Egidio and is the postulator of the cause of beatification of the Archbishop of San
Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero. In 2000 he was ordained as Bishop of Terni Narni Amelia in the
Cathedral of St. John Lateran. Since 2002, he is president of the International Catholic Biblical Federation
and, from 2004 to 2009, he was also chairman of the Commission Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Italian
Episcopal Conference. For his work in peace he received, in 1999, the UNESCO’s Gandhi Medal and in
2003 the Mother Teresa Prize of Albanian Government. He has collaborated with the Department of
Contemporary History at the Sapienza University of Rome and has published studies and articles on the
social and religious history as well as on the history of poverty. On 26 June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI
elevated him to the dignity of archbishop and appointed him president of the Pontifical Council for the
Family. On 17 August 2016 has been appointed President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Grand
Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.
Dr Heikki Pälve is the newly retired CEO of the Finnish Medical Association. He graduated in 1980 and
specialised in anaesthesia and intensive care in 1987. He served in the Turku University Hospital as an
associate professor in anaesthesia and intensive care 1988 – 2005 and worked as an emergency
helicopter physician for five years. He was the president of the FMA 2001 – 2003 and CEO 2005 – 2017.
He has been the vice-president of the Finnish Academics Organisation. He served as the Vice-President
of the European Physicians’ (CPME) 2012 – 2015 and has been a board member since 2005. Dr. Palve
has been an active delegate of the World Medical Association (WMA) since 2001. He has been the Chair
of the Medical Ethics Committee 2014 – 2017. Heikki has been also politically active and has been
member of the city council in Turku and member of the board of the University of Turku.
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Dr Ramin Parsa-Parsi, MD, MPH, is the Head of the Department for International Affairs at the German
Medical Association (GMA) in Berlin, Germany. Prior to joining the GMA, Dr Parsa-Parsi worked with
Harvard Medical International in Boston, USA, as the Director of Health Policy. He is a member of the
Council of the World Medical Association (WMA) and chaired international workgroups for the 2013
revision of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki and the 2017 revision of the Declaration of Geneva. Dr
Parsa-Parsi holds a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University, obtained a doctoral degree
at the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and received his MD
from the University of Cologne in Germany, where he also did his postgraduate medical education in
Hematology/Oncology.
Prof. Pablo Requena Meana, MD STD, was born in Cartagena, Murcia (Spain), on July 21, 1969. As a
physician (1993) and Catholic priest (2002), Assistant Professor of Moral Theology and Bioethics, School
of Theology, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome, Italy), and delegate of the Vatican Medical
Association for the World Medical Association (2012 – present), his areas of interest include principlism
and methods for bioethics, sacrality of life and dignity, and end of life issues. His recent publications
include, Why Should the World Medical Association not Change its Policy towards Euthanasia?, “World
Medical Journal” 62, 3(2016), 99-103; P. Requena, N. Comoretto, C. Petrini, Clinical Ethics: status
quaestionis, “Persona y bioética” 20, 1(2016), 26-37.
Prof. Dr Stephan Sahm is Director of the Medical Clinic at Ketteler Hospital, which is part of Frankfurt
University´s Comprehensive Cancer Center. After academic education in philosophy and medicine, he
graduated in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterolgy and Palliative Care. At the same time he gained a
qualification (Habilitation) in Bioethics and was appointed Professor for Medical Ethics at Frankfurt
University Medical School. Stephan Sahm has published in academic journals and textbooks and
authored a book on ethics of end-of-life care. He had been frequently invited as an expert in
Parliamentary hearings and is a regular commentator on medical ethics for the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung.
Dr Stefano Semplici is professor of Social Ethics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where he is also
a member of the teaching board of the PhD in Philosophy (jointly organized with The University of
“Roma Tre”). He is the chair (since 2014) of the Committee for Bioethics of the Italian Society of
Pediatrics and an Associate Editor of the journal «Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy» (since 2010).
He was the Chair of the International Bioethics Committe of UNESCO from 2011 to 2015, Editor and later
Coeditor of the journal «Archivio di filosofia/Archives of Philosophy», and Scientific Director of the
University College «Lamaro-Pozzani».
Dr Heidi Stensmyren is president of the Swedish Medical Association (SMA) since 2014. She also chairs
the SMAs delegation of negotiating salaries and collective agreements for physicians on the Swedish
labour market. Dr Stensmyren is council member of the WMA since 2015 and chairs the Medical Ethics
Committee since 2017. She works as a specialist in Anesthesiology and Intensive care at Danderyd
University Hospital, and holds an M.D. from the University of Würzburg. Dr Stensmyren has been
involved as expert in several Swedish government committees such as the Organ Donation Committee,
between 2013-2015 and the Profits in Welfare inquiry, 2015-2017. She was president of the Swedish
junior Doctors between 2007-2009, chair in the Organ Donation Council between 2012-2015 and
president of the Stockholm Medical Association between 2013-2014. She has a specific passion for
ethics and leadership issues.
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Chairs and speakers
Prof. Marie-Jo Thiel is Professor at the University of Strasbourg (France); Director of the European
Centre for the Study and Teaching of Ethics (CEERE) of the same University. She is member of numerous
ethics committees, and has been member of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New
Technologies (EGE) for the European Commission (EU). She has written a lot of articles and books. Her
latest issues: La santé augmentée: réaliste ou totalitaire (Bayard, 2014); Les enjeux éthiques du handicap
(PUS, 2014), Ethical challenges of Ageing (RSM, 2013), Ethische Fragen der «Behinderung». Ethical
Challenges of Disability (Lit Verlag, 2014), Désirable vulnérabilité ? (PUS 2016).
Prof. Dr Urban Wiesing was born in 1958 in Ahlen/Westf, and studied medicine, philosophy, sociology
and history of medicine in Muenster and Berlin. He earned his Dr. med. in 1987 and Dr. phil. in 1995.
From 1985 to 1988, he was a physician in anaesthesiology and internal medicine. From 1988 to 1998, he
was assistant at the Institute of Theory and History of Medicine at the University of Muenster and in
1993 he completed his “Habilitation” and was a lecturer for theory and history of medicine. Since 1998,
he has served as Professor and Chair of Medical Ethics at the University of Tuebingen, where he is also
Director of the Institute of History of Medicine. From 2004 to 2013, he was Chair of the Central Ethics
Committee of the Federal Board of Physicians.
Dr Yoshitake Yokokura, M.D., Ph.D, graduated from the Kurume University School of Medicine in
March, 1969, and worked for the surgery department of the University. After that he worked for the
surgery department of the Detmold Hospital in Germany for two years (1977-79). He has been President
of the Yokokura Hospital since 1990. He was elected as President of the Japan Medical Association in
April 2012. He also served Council Member of the World Medical Association (WMA) from 2010 to 2016.
He serves as President of the WMA (2017-18) and President (2017-18) of the Confederation of Medical
Associations in Asia and Oceania.
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