Consumers have many possibilities to undergo a form of screening to acquire health information via the Internet or otherwise by purchasing health checks, medical check-ups, total body scans and... Show moreConsumers have many possibilities to undergo a form of screening to acquire health information via the Internet or otherwise by purchasing health checks, medical check-ups, total body scans and direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests. More and more providers place screenings on the market before they have been assessed properly. In the Netherlands the Act on population screening ( __Wet op het bevolkingsonderzoek__) sets strict quality criteria for screening. In accordance with this Act a licence is required for offering and performing screening with ionising radiation or for detecting (risk factors of) cancer and untreatable diseases. This system, which aims to protect individuals against health damage and also to ensure patients (rights), wards off __commercial screening__ of the Dutch market. In society this meets with criticism. Individuals increasingly perceive the limited access to screening as an unnecessary restriction of their self-determination. However, the Dutch State has a special responsibility regarding the health of individuals. This thesis focuses on the following central question: __What are the normative criteria for the access to and supply of genetic screening from constitutional and European law perspectives?__ As a corollary the author will explore what this means for the Dutch legal framework regulating genetic screening, particularly DTC genetic tests. Show less
The book The United Nations, the Evolution of Global Values and International Law by Otto Spijkers describes how moral values have determined the founding of the United Nations Organization in 1945... Show moreThe book The United Nations, the Evolution of Global Values and International Law by Otto Spijkers describes how moral values have determined the founding of the United Nations Organization in 1945 and the evolution of its purposes, principles and policies since then. A detailed examination of the proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco demonstrates that the drafting of the United Nations Charter was significantly influenced by global moral values, i.e. globally shared beliefs distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad, and the current from a preferable state-of-the-world. A common desire to eradicate war, poverty, inhuman treatment, and to halt the exploitation of peoples, has led to an affirmation of the values of peace and security, social progress and development, human dignity and the self-determination of all peoples. All these values ended up in the UN Charter. The book further analyzes how the United Nations, and especially its General Assembly, has continued to influence the maturing of global morality through contributions to the values-debate, and to the translation of these values into the language of international law, including the law on the use of force, sustainable development, human rights and the right to self-determination. Show less