The global health landscape is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, driven by accelerated technological advances, complex demographic transitions, and persistent structural gaps in access to health services. Within this scenario, the traditional notion of “care” requires profound conceptual and practical revision. This symposium proposes a space for critical, interdisciplinary reflection aimed at examining the ethical, bioethical and social dilemmas shaping the future of healthcare and human well-being in both the global and Latin American context.
To address this complexity, the symposium is organized around four essential thematic lines. First, “Clinical bioethics” reclaims the centrality of decision-making in daily practice, analyzing the ethical dilemmas arising from interactions among professionals, patients and families in highly complex settings. Second, given the emergence of digital transformation, “Ethics in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care” is examined—a crucial axis for discussing the impact of algorithms on clinical judgment, data privacy, patient autonomy and the urgent need for humanized technological governance.
As a third axis, the symposium addresses “Challenges, opportunities and access in health care,” positioning care as a fundamental right. From this perspective, public policies, regulations and the imperatives of equity and health justice needed to overcome the asymmetries of contemporary health systems will be debated. Finally, an integrative view is proposed through “Caring communities (cities),” a space dedicated to making visible the role of formal and informal caregivers, the recovery of ancestral care practices, the challenge of population aging, and the approach to mental health from a community and intercultural perspective.
In conclusion, this symposium seeks to bring together researchers, health professionals, bioethicists and social scientists to build bridges between scientific rigor and the humanistic dimension. By analyzing care at the intersection of technology, politics, clinical practice and community, it aims to contribute to the construction of fairer, more sustainable, compassionate health models centered on the dignity of human life.
