Child welfare and child protection: ethical challenges for medicine

The welfare of children and adolescents is at the heart of paediatrics and child and adolescent psychiatry. At the same time, the welfare of children is constantly caught between medical indications, legal protection, parental authority and the growing autonomy of young patients. In this area of tension, those providing treatment are often faced with complex ethical decisions. How should the welfare of the unborn child be protected if the health of the pregnant person is at risk? Should intensive medical care be continued for a newborn baby even though there is only a small chance of survival? When is the welfare of a child in the family so severely jeopardised that the child and adult protection authority should be involved? When is a young person allowed to make their own decision about a far-reaching, irreversible medical intervention, such as gender reassignment surgery?

In this symposium, we will analyse these questions from an ethical, legal and medical perspective. After two presentations on the ethical and legal foundations of child welfare, experts will present the ethical areas of conflict in the various clinical specialities. Following the specialist presentations, there will be an opportunity for joint discussion and an exchange of experiences from clinical practice. A particular focus will be on the question of how professionals can deal with ethical conflicts relating to child welfare and child protection.

We cordially invite employees of the University Hospital Basel (USB), the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel (UPK), the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB) and the University Geriatric Medicine FELIX PLATTER (UAFP) as well as other interested specialists to this symposium.