BIOETHICS IN CENTRAL AMERICA – STATE OF THE ARTS

Abstract

Bioethics in Central America started in 2000 with the
creation of bioethics committees and laws about patients
‘rights and ethics of research. In Panama, bioethics has
been included in medical formation and a bioethics
association (ABIOPAN in Spanish) is working with
some difficulties. In Costa Rica there is an interuniversity postgrad of bioethics, but the national
committee of ethics in researches is just functioning in
2014. In El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras,
bioethics committees have been developed after the end of
civil wars and bioethics is part of medical studies.