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The Heart of the Matter

The Ethical Challenges of New Treatments in Children. A lecture to consider some important ethical issues, past and present. Congenital disease is rare, and the cause of a tiny fraction of overall childhood mortality. Poverty, malnutrition, inadequate water supply and infectious diseases are all more important causes of death. So why do we invest so heavily in the treatment of these rare disorders and are we right to do so, especially in developing countries? Advances were often made in the past by brave attempts at treatments based on light evident but strong belief. Would these have been 'allowed' today?

Martin Elliott is Gresham Professor of Physic and Co-Medical Director at The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London (GOSH). He led the cardiorespiratory and thoracic transplant teams at GOSH for many years, and established, and is Director of the National Service for Severe Tracheal Disease in Children, the largest such service in the world. (from gresham.ac.uk)

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