Porto Regional Forum: Palliative Care in Focus
As part of the project “General States of Bioethics”, an initiative of the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences (CNECV), the Porto Regional Forum took place on 24 April at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. The meeting was held between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. under the title “The National Council of Ethics under Discussion”, with a particular focus on Palliative Care.
The main objective of the event was to foster reflection and dialogue on the role and mission of CNECV in this area of healthcare. To this end, contributions and insights were gathered from a multidisciplinary panel of 26 professionals working in palliative care, including fields such as medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, academia, and other specialties.
The session began with opening remarks by Guilhermina Rego, Deputy Director of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, and CNECV member Rui Nunes, the event’s organiser, who provided an overview of the initiative’s objectives. This was followed by an institutional presentation of the “General States of Bioethics” project, focusing on the mission, responsibilities, composition, and main activities of CNECV, as well as the aims of this consultation initiative.
This was followed by contributions from the 26 experts attending the Regional Forum, who highlighted the strategic role that CNECV can play in educating and raising awareness in society about the ethical issues inherent to end-of-life care, as well as its importance in engaging with policymakers. It was suggested that palliative care could be considered a priority area for reflection and of high relevance for the Council.
Photos: @CNECV/Joana Araújo e Margarida Azevedo
