From the start, the Grifols Foundation has strived to promote consideration of ethics within the ever-expanding world of health protection, which includes both the day to day problems affecting the rights of individuals, and existing and potential approaches to research in bioethics, without neglecting other issues related to the quality of life in general such as the environment or the protection of animals. Although it is the major scientific and technical innovations which receive most media attention, it is actually in the clinical relationship that the questions which most directly reflect people’s concerns arise. This is clear from the Foundation’s programme of activities where, while almost every field where bioethical concerns arise has been explored, it is to clinical ethics that the greatest number of proposals relate and where the greatest interest is aroused.

This is evidenced by the prizes and grants awarded in 2006, and the symposia organized by the Foundation itself. Issues such as the competency of patients (whether adults or children), informed consent, living wills and admission to intensive care units show that we live in a world whose complexity cannot be adequately covered by a combination of legislation and empirical sciences alone. I believe it was James Drane who explained the existence of bioethics as a reflection of the need to ensure that the problems generated by the practice of medicine are not resolved always and only by judges. Ethics, both as a regulatory guide and as a set of attitudes which people need to acquire gradually, should help us to reflect together and address each problem in as humane and fair a manner as possible. Because acceptance of this view is growing, the importance of communication and of ensuring that information is adapted to the individual patient has become greater. This was clear from the symposium on “Approaching patient competence”, and was also a central issue of the symposium on “Informed consent and cultural diversity”. One could say that, once the principle of patient autonomy has been accepted, the need to be flexible and to identify the specific features of each case becomes clear.

Nobody doubts that we live in an age of information and communication, and this is reflected by the Foundation’s decision to replace the traditional printed Annual Report with this e-bulletin which more closely reflects the spirit of our times. However, the course which the Foundation has organized for a number of years with the Menéndez y Pelayo International University, based in Barcelona, was in 2006 dedicated to “The limits of virtual medicine”. As a source of information, the internet can be of very high quality, of poor quality, or simply misleading. When people’s health depends upon this sort of information, we need to remain alert and to combat danger and distortion. These were the issues addressed by the course.

In addition to holding workshops and symposia which are open to the public, the Foundation also aims to function as a think tank which draws up and presents specific points of view in regard to issues which should be the subject of calm public discussion, free from by the glare of media attention and the headline-grabbing approach which this promotes, and uninfluenced by party-political positions. This was the aim of the document “Private provision in public health organizations”, which sought to address a problem which has not been resolved by existing legislation. The fact that this is a controversial issue which provokes conflicting responses was clear in the debate which followed publication, and in the two public presentations of the document. The point of view expressed in the publication itself is not so much that of the Foundation as of the authors of the text, and this was publicized with the aim, once again, of bringing into the open a complex issue which needs to be addressed.

February 2006 brought us the sad news of the death of Josep Egozcue, Vice-President of the Foundation. The immense range of his personal talents was reflected in the tribute paid to him by the Foundation at its annual award ceremony, with the announcement of the inauguration of the Josep Egozcue Lectures. Our aim is to keep alive the memory of this man who was both a scientist and a dear friend. The first lectures will be given in October 2007 by Professor Daniel Callahan, one of the pioneers of bioethics and founder of the prestigious Hastings Center which has been an inspiration for many organizations concerned with ethical obligations, including our own Foundation.

Victoria Camps
President