As the year draws rapidly to a close, we proudly present volume 11, issue 4 of December 2019 as the final instalment of this year’s journal volume.
The building of (primarily scholastic) capacity to address bioethical issues and to advance bioethical goals, particularly where the Asia-Pacific region is concerned, continue to be prominent in the published papers and activities of the journal. It is hence a befitting end to the year to present the winning essays of our ABR Young Scholar Award 2018. The first prize goes to Supriya Subramani for her paper on the agency of, and respect for patients in medical negligence cases in India, while Aiswarya Sasi wins the second prize with “Ethical Issues concerning Legislation in Late-Term Abortions in India”. Hillary Chua’s essay on healthcare access for the deaf in Singapore has earned an honorary mention. We take this opportunity to congratulate the winners, and to thank all competition participants, as well as our panel of judges: Professors Ruth Macklin, Vikki A. Entwistle and Alastair V. Campbell.
We are also delighted to present in this journal issue an update from Eisuke Nakazawa and colleagues in Japan on withdrawal of treatment, two papers on the ethics of human stem cell research in Malaysia from Mathana Amaris Fiona Sivaraman and from Nishakanthi Gopalan, and a comparative study on medical ethics education in Indonesia and the Netherlands by Amalia Muhaimin et al.
All articles in this issue enjoy either Free Access (some via PubMed Central) or Open Access – simply click on the title. The copyright of Free Access articles is shared by Springer Nature and the National University of Singapore. The copyright of Open Access articles remains with the respective authors.
Editorial – Free Access
Capacity Building: Continuity and Change
Calvin W. L. Ho
December 2019 – 11(4): 341-342 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00108-z
Update – Free Access via PMC
Why Can’t Japanese People Decide?—Withdrawal of Ventilatory Support in End-of-Life Scenarios and Their Indecisiveness
Eisuke Nakazawa, Keiichiro Yamamoto, Reina Ozeki-Hayashi, and Akira Akabayashi
December 2019 – 11(4): 343-347 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00107-0
Original Article – Free Access via PMC
The Rhetoric of the ‘Passive Patient’ in Indian Medical Negligence Cases
Supriya Subramani
December 2019 – 11(4): 349-366 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00106-1
Original Article – Free Access via PMC
Ethical Issues concerning Legislation in Late-Term Abortions in India
Aiswarya Sasi
December 2019 – 11(4): 367-376 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00105-2
Perspective Article – Free Access via PMC
Healthcare Access for the Deaf in Singapore: Overcoming Communication Barriers
Hillary Chua
December 2019 – 11(4): 377-390 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00104-3
Original Article – Open Access
What Do Students Perceive as Ethical Problems? A Comparative Study of Dutch and Indonesian Medical Students in Clinical Training
Amalia Muhaimin, Derk Ludolf Willems, Adi Utarini, and Maartje Hoogsteyns
December 2019 – 11(4): 391-408 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00101-6
Original Article – Free Access via PMC
Ethical Guiding Principles of “Do No Harm” and the “Intention to Save Lives” in relation to Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Finding Common Ground between Religious Views and Principles of Medical Ethics
Mathana Amaris Fiona Sivaraman
December 2019 – 11(4): 409-435 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00103-4
Original Article – Free Access via PMC
The Shortage of Malaysian Stem Cell Ethics in Mainstream Database: a Preliminary Study
Nishakanthi Gopalan
December 2019 – 11(4): 437-460 – doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00102-5
Asian Bioethics Review 