Preface In January 2014, 10 new members were appointed to the Danish Council of Ethics to join the Council’s total of 17 members, and in February the Council held a seminar to plan the work schedule for the next year. The following three working groups were adopted: RESEARCH ON HEALTH DATA AND BIOBANKS Advances within IT and biotechnology have made large volumes of public health data available to research. By analysing and comparing information from biobanks and data registers, it is now possible to obtain highly accurate information about causes of diseases, effects of various treatment forms in certain populations or individuals for the benefit of patients and national economy in the short and long term. It is a development that puts traditional regard for research participants and patients under pressure. What does it mean to the individual that increasing volumes of personal information are being stored about him or her? How do we balance society’s wishes for effective research with the individual’s right of self-determination? The ethical dilemmas that have historically characterised health research are these days being raised with renewed vigour. USE OF DIAGNOSES The Council’s work with this theme has been based on a societal trend of increasing diagnostic categories and the perception that diagnoses are increasingly being used outside the purely medical sphere. The aim of this work has been to uncover the ethical problems and dilemmas associated with the different relationships in which diagnoses THE DANISH COUNCIL OF ETHICS ANNUAL REPORT 2014 3
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