Neurosurgery and Medical Ethics 2011

This supplement to Acta Neurochirurgica contains the proceedings of the Ninth Convention of the Academia Eurasiana Neurochirurgica, held at Chateau St. Gerlach, Houthem, the Netherlands, from 29 July to 1 August 1998. During this convention, a three-day symposium on neurosurgery and medical ethics was held. In these times of enormous technical advances in medicine in general and neurosurgery in particular, we are in danger of losing sight of the sick patient as a human being, and there is a strong possibility that he or she will be the object rather than the subject of our action in the near future. The aim and objective of the Academia Eurasiana Neurochirurgica is to recognise this thread and draw attention to tradition, morality and ethics in neurological surgery. The themes of this convention and the themes of the symposium fulfilled this objective like no other. During the scientific sessions on the first day, invited specialists in the field explained the moral basis of medical ethics in the major cultures and religions of the East and West. A mutually respectful understanding of each other's concepts and belief in ethical principles is an increasing necessity in multicultural societies on both continents. On the second day, members of the Academy discussed ethical aspects of the various fields of neurosurgery. In this context, the widely discussed and internationally criticised euthanasia legislation in the Netherlands was also explained.