November will be a busy month for Bioethics and Health Care Conferences
in Australasia--please circulate the following announcements widely!

ASSOCIATED BIOETHICS AND HEALTHCARE MEETINGS

3-5 November 2004

Conference: 5th International Conference on Priorities in Health Care

Themes: a. Practical tools for making the hard decisions - The right
service, at the right time, from  the right provider.
b. Resource allocation at the macro and meso level.
c. Who calls the shots? - the role of key players in priority setting.
d. Systems, incentives and 'cultural' support for priority setting.
e. Priority setting lessons from developing countries.
  f. Equity, disparities and the health of indigenous people.

Location: Wellington, New Zealand

Details:        This conference is for us to share current experiences
and developing knowledge on priority setting in health care.

Health systems and service providers face the task every day of deciding
how to spend finite health funding. Wellington 2004 is the fifth in a
series of international meetings on health priorities and emerging
solutions. Previous meetings were held in Stockholm (1996), London
(1998), Amsterdam (2000), and Oslo (2002). In Wellington, we will
highlight practical approaches and tools to assist in day-to-day
decision-making about the health services to fund, and who should
receive those services first.

Website: www.healthpriorities.org

Contact: Wendy Edgar, Ministry of Health. Email: [log in to unmask]
or fax: +64 4 496 2340

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3-5 November 2004

Symposia: Health, Human Rights and Ethics Symposia

Theme:  Do human rights improve public health? Approaches for mainstream
marginalized populations.

Location:University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Details:        Through a combination of debates, panel discussions and
case studies, the symposium will provide the forum for the critical
discussion of the growing use (and misuse) of a rights based approach in
public health discourse, research and practice. Issues to be considered
will include: human rights as a legislative tool for public health,
human rights frameworks for ethical public health practice, value of
human rights to public health policies and programs and human rights
indicators and impact assessments. Cases presented for discussion will
have a largely Australian and regional (Asia Pacific) focus.

Speakers:Invited panelist discussants will include leaders in health and
human rights from the Harvard School of Public Health, London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of the Philippines, University
of Pretoria, Law Faculties and Departments of Public Health at Melbourne
and Monash Universities, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities
Commissions and others.

Website: To be advised.

Contact: Pascalle Allotey on [log in to unmask] or
Bebe Loff on [log in to unmask]

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7-9 November 2004

Conference: International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics
(FAB) Congress

Theme:  Feminists Explore Public Health, Indigenous Health and the Body

Location:University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Details:        The International Network on Feminist Approaches to
Bioethics (FAB) is proud to be holding its 5th conference as a network
of the International Association of Bioethics as part of this series of
bioethics meetings. FAB conferences routinely bring together some of the
most interesting feminist and international perspectives current in
bioethics. As part of this conference FAB will also hold its bi-annual
meeting to discuss FAB activities and ratify the election of FAB
officers.

Abstracts: Authors are cordially invited to submit a paper proposal
(abstract only) for the 2004 Congress of the International Network on
Feminist Approaches to Bioethics (FAB). Papers on any topic in feminist
bioethics are welcome, although the plenary sessions will be devoted to
the sub-themes in the Congress's title. On Tuesday 9 November the
afternoon plenary and concurrent sessions on the Body will be offered as
joint IAB/FAB cross-over sessions. Please see FAB website for further
details. DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF SUBMISSIONS: 20 February 2004. For more
information, please contact: Wendy Rogers Email:
[log in to unmask] or Rachel Ankeny Email:
[log in to unmask]

Website: www.fabnet.org

Registration: Details are available on the World Congress Bioethics site
www.bioethicsworldcongress.com. For information regarding Congress
registration and attendance, telephone +61 2 9385 3503 or email:
[log in to unmask] or

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9-12 November 2004

Congress: International Association of Bioethics (IAB) 7th World
Congress of Bioethics

Theme: Deep Listening: bridging divides in local and global ethics

Sub-themes: Indigenous Health Ethics, Public Health Ethics from Local
and Global Perspectives and Refiguring the Body

Location: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Details: The Australian Congress Committee decided on the theme Deep
Listening to emphasise the importance of communication between peoples
of the world and to emphasise the importance of listening to sounds and
voices that may be ignored. Deep listening: bridging divides in local
and global ethics suggests a conversation of discovery at the margins
between cultures and between those with power and the
disempowered. The Congress will provide an opportunity to speak - and to
listen-across divides and to contribute constructively to the many
issues that will be addressed, resulting in an academic program that
addresses important issues at the leading edge of bioethics enquiry.

Abstracts: Invitations are extended to present a paper, Special
Symposium, Conversation Piece, or Poster in any of the wide range of
areas covered by the Congress. Alternatively, people are invited to
offer a presentation (including Special Symposium) on any topic in
bioethics. The Congress website provides detailed information on the
list of discussion topics and deadlines for submissions.

Website: www.bioethicsworldcongress.com

Contact: Telephone +61 2 9385 3503 or email:
[log in to unmask]


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13-14 November 2004

Conference: Australasian Bioethics Association (ABA) 10th Conference

Theme: Contesting Freedom in Healthcare: policy, practice and ethics

Location: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Details:        In all aspects of health and health care, and in all
aspects of illness and its prevention, freedoms are at stake. But too
often they are assumed, overlooked, or neglected. As we move into the
twenty first century, furthermore, health care research and delivery
will continue to change rapidly in nature, scope and purpose. These
changes will impact on our freedoms, increasing some, diminishing
others, and creating new kinds of inequality. So we are confronted with
questions about alternative concepts of freedom and their applications
to practice; about constraints on freedom; and about freedom's
distribution and management. Whose freedomcounts and whose doesn't? How
should freedom be configured in a pluralistic society? How should
freedom be balanced with equity and responsibility? The ABA invites
contributors from different disciplines and professions to address these
and other questions as they relate to health. Areas of interest might
include (but are by no means restricted to) the following: clinical
practice research, human reproduction, sexuality and genetics, the
beginning and end of life, lifestyle choices and identity, imprisonment
and detention and whistleblowing.

Abstracts: Invitations are invited to submit a paper or poster in any of
the areas relating to the conference theme. The Conference website
provides detailed information on the format for abstract submissions and
deadlines for abstract submission.

Website: www.australasian-bioethics.org


Contact: Kokila De Silva, Secretary, Australasian Bioethics Association
Email: [log in to unmask] or telephone: +61.2 9850 7854

Ian Kerridge, Vice President Australasian Bioethics Association.
Email: [log in to unmask]