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Zsófia Nagy

Greek summer school on the topic of Vulnerable populations in healthcare

The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece traditionally organises a summer school on bioethics, where distinguished professors and lecturers not only from legal background but of medicine, sociology, philosophy and theology from all over the world come together and hold presentations and workshops for the participants interested in current bioethical issues. The personal composition of the lecturers gives an enhanced and layered approach to the analysis of the given topic, thus enabling the audience to dive into an interdisciplinary viewpoints and suggested solutions. The professional quality of the lectures is ensured by the Laboratory for the Research of Medical Law and Bioethics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and the Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning.

The summer school of 2024 has focused on the specific situation and challenges and perspectives of vulnerable populations in healthcare. The lineup of the summer school was very diverse, with presentations and workshops addressing issues such as health inequalities,  distribution of health resources, new technologies in healthcare, artificial intelligence and healthcare services, access to healthcare of different groups of vulnerable populations such as undocumented immigrants, children, mentally ill persons, prisoners, the elderly, people of the LGBTQI+ minority, pregnant woman and neonates, homeless people, Roma people and other ethnic minority groups and HIV infected patients. Through the diverse selection of groups of vulnerable populations, the participants could engage into contemplation of the systemic and universal issues appearing at different stages and types of healthcare services, such as access to vaccination, forced sterilization, palliative care, medically assisted reproduction, clinical trials etc. By having access to pre-distributed reading materials before classes, and sufficient room for discussion and audience questions, the participants were given space and time for sharing their arguments and standpoints to each topic, which resulted in fruitful and proactive professional discourse.

The summer school began with keynote speakers from the field of medical law and bioethics, namely, Dean of the Faculty of Law of AUTh prof. Glavinis Panagiotis, prof. Katerina Fountedaki and prof. Lina Papadopoulou who introduced the general challenges of vulnerable populations in healthcare. The welcoming day ended with assist. prof. Konstantinos Rokas addressing the Healthcare of vulnerable populations: challenges and perspectives.

The following day was full of intriguing presentations. The morning session was begun by Guillaume Rousset from the Jean Moulin of Lyon University, who gave a speech about Health Inequalities: Distribution of Health Resources with special regards to the French system. The following lecturer PhD candidate at the AUTh Marianna Vasileiou presented the topic of Forced Sterilization of Mentally Ill Persons, which became an interactive class with full of brainstorming and compassionate debate. In the afternoon prof. em. of Obstetrics-Gynaecology and Human Reproduction Basil C. Tarlatzis examined the question about the Declining global fertility rates: is medically assisted reproduction the solution. Then assist. prof Pergantis Vassilis closed the day with his presentation on the ECtHR: Health Vulnerability as a Refoulement Roadblock.

The 2nd day was focusing on the issue of access to healthcare and its effects on different groups of vulnerable people. Firstly, Dr. George Nikolaidis, who currently works at the Department of Mental Health and Social Welfare, Institute of Child Health, fascinated the audience by his presentation about Children's victimization and the challenges for caring for them without causing more harm. The topic of The Right to Access to Healthcare for Undocumented Immigrants was analyzed by adj. lect. Ioanna Pervou from the Democritus University of Thrace. The access to healthcare services to LGBTQI+ people was presented by Assist. Prof. A. van der Star, San Diego State University, in is presentation titled Anti-LGBTQI+ Legislation & Health Inequity, and Marianna Vasileiou’s workshop on Access to Medically Assisted Reproduction for Trans People.

In the middle of the week assoc. prof. Eleni Rethimiotaki from the Athens Law School introduced the participants the Challenges in Healthcare for the Elderly, which was followed by a closely related issue of Palliative Care for Older Persons in the speech of PostDoc. Nikolaos Papadopoulos from the University of Turin. In the next half of the day adj. lect. Dimitrios Koros of the Democritus University of Thrace gave presentation about Hunger Strike in Prison: Legal and Bioethical Considerations. The closing speech was delivered by prof. Panagiotis Bamidis of AUTh about the intriguing opportunities of New Technologies in Health: Access and Restrictions.

On the 4th day of the summer school the students were presented by the astonishing diversity of vulnerable populations and the challenges they face in healthcare. Assist. prof. Christina Akrivopoulou from Hellenic Open University, introduced the issues surrounding the Vaccination of Immigrants with special regards to Greek cases. Later, prof. Dimitris Zafeiriou from AUTh expanded the not only legal implications of Medical Care of Disabled and Seriously Ill Children. The bioethical challenges of Clinical trials of New Medicines to Pregnant Women and Neonates was presented by assoc. prof. Chrysanthi Sardeli, from AUTh. Lastly and active and engaging workshop was held by assist. prof Bruno Nikolić, University of Ljubljana, about AI in Healthcare: Risks and Benefits for Vulnerable Populations.

By the end of the week of the summer school four lectures remained before the exams. Specifically, prof. Monika Urbaniak from Poznan University, analysed the structure and access to Health Care Services for Homeless People. The questions about improvement of Healthcare Access for the Roma People was introduced by prof. Dimitris Theofanidis from Hellenic University, Thessaloniki. Last but not least assist. prof. Vagia Polyzoidou, from the University of Nicosia gave a presentation titled Can a Doctor Refuse Treatment to HIV-Infected Patients?

The Laboratory for the Research of Medical Law and Bioethics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki hold a high standard of professional representation, lectures and diverse topics about bioethics, and gave a great opportunity to enhance the research process of students of all levels and legal professionals who are working in the field of medical law.

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