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| Dr. Nuala Kenny, professor of bioethics and founder of H漫画's Department of Bioethics |
Health care in all developed countries is in crisis, Kenny explained. Canada and the United States each face their own crises based on their different existing policies, and developing these policies is no easy feat.
脪Health care is of moral, ethical importance,鈥� noted Kenny. 脪Why is it such a hot topic? Because it protects our opportunity to pursue goals; it reduces pain and suffering; and it prevents the premature loss of life.鈥�
Kenny believes public policy is a moral endeavor. 脪It is a decision made by some for others 脨 others who are not at the decision-making table. It creates possibilities for some and excludes others. It has to respect diverse values but find enough value agreement to make a decision for the common good.鈥�
Further fueling the health care issue is our aging society.
脪You can脮t believe how old we脮re getting!鈥� exclaimed Kenny as she shared recent statistics on aging in Nova Scotia and Canada. 脪But the issue really isn脮t aging; rather it is the practice of what we do. We脮ve become so focused on technology and finding a fix or a cure, that we脮re not paying any attention to the social determinants of health.
脪We脮ve done so well at so many things that people think we can do everything,鈥� she continued. 脪But what people have to remember is that health care is not free 脨 we pay for it for each other.鈥�
Kenny warned that we need to watch treating aging as a disease, which is where intergenerational justice comes into play. We need to be concerned with justice and fairness between everyone 脨 the young, the old and the in-between, people living now and future generations, she said.
Kenny concluded by challenging the audience to think about what we owe each other.
脪We no longer know how to be citizens,鈥� she said. 脪We脮ve become so focused on individual benefits instead of looking at populations and groups. We need to refocus and start thinking again about the common good.鈥�
Kenny, a professor of bioethics and pediatrics, founded H漫画脮s Department of Bioethics in 1996 and is now devoted to the issue full time. She is regularly involved in policy deliberations, particularly in relation to values and Canadian health care, and is internationally recognized as a medical educator and lecturer on fundamental ethics questions in health care and policy.聽
The MasterMinds lecture series continues on April 19 with 脪Can you hear me now? How animals communicate in a noisy world鈥� presented by Dr. Marty Leonard. For more information, please contact alumni@dal.ca or 494-2805.