ZESZYT 1/2016
Paulina Stala
„Biobank” seems to be a greatly imprecise term, because the scope of this designation includes the whole spectrum of institutions differentiated in many respects, those being mainly goals to achieve, types of stored samples, organizational independence, as well as financial system. Precursors of the biobanking concept were the Scandinavian countries, where already in the 1960s samples from patients were systematically collected and they have been entered into registers of diseases, including oncological diseases and twin registers(...)
Marta Krzysik
Different countries have adopted various regulations concerning decisions applying to the end of life - from absolute prohibition of euthanasia to its legality. Moreover, differences exist not only between different legislations, but also within particular national legal systems depending on the form of committing this act. Often, even in systems where there exists an absolute prohibition of active euthanasia, passive euthanasia or indirect euthanasia is at least partially accepted. Comparison of different penalty systems as far as active euthanasia is concerned shows that a great group of those introduce a formal prohibition of this type of behavior. On the other hand - Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have legislation providing for homicide on demand. For this reason, models of euthanasia established in Poland and the Benelux countries will be presented as examples of extreme solutions that can create a base for discussion of comparative character. Detailed analysis of a process of transformations of a right to euthanasia in Belgium (with special emphasis on children euthanasia) will be carried out as this being a manifestation of liberal trends regarding the admissibility of "end of life on demand."(...)
Tomasz Sroka
Poland has approximately 38.5 million inhabitants, of which 15% are over 60 years old. For many years a trend of increasing numbers of elderly is apparent – it is forecasted that in 2035, the number of people aged 65 and over in Poland will constitute a quarter of all residents(...)
