Artificial intelligence runs through several sessions, from digital-health policy to legal responsibility for decisions assisted by AI. The conference also includes talks on criminal law and paediatric health, alongside clinical research. The World Health Organization’s European regional reporting says nearly two-thirds of countries in the region use AI for diagnosis and half use conversational AI, while fewer than half have assessed whether existing laws cover AI and almost 40% lack AI-specific ethical guidance.
The Servicio Canario de la Salud (SCS) and the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Canarias (IISC) have scheduled the fifth Jornadas de Derecho e Investigación for 13 and 14 November in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The programme brings national and regional professionals in law and medicine together to share experience, discuss the sector’s current position and propose improvements to public services. The event’s digital-health and legal themes sit within a wider European policy agenda: WHO/Europe says governments across its 53 Member States adopted a common AI-in-health roadmap focused on governance and leadership; ethical, regulatory and legal frameworks; data and digital infrastructure; and capacity-building and implementation support.
Legal questions around healthcare open the first day. Antonio del Moral, a magistrate in the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court, is scheduled to deliver ‘Sanitarios y derecho penal’. Svetlana Pavlovic, head of Paediatric Emergency Services at the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular-Materno Infantil and a researcher at the IISC, will speak on ‘Eventos climáticos y enfermedades cardiorrespiratorias en población pediátrica’.
The programme then turns to health technology. Marina Pollán, director of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, will present ‘Innovación en salud, la perspectiva del Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ and join a round-table discussion with Manuel Cuenca, director of the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Fernando Gutiérrez and Ángel Ramos, the IISC’s scientific director and deputy scientific director, will also take part.
From 12:30, Juan Fernando Muñoz, secretary general for Digital Health, Information and Innovation at the Ministry of Health’s Sistema Nacional de Salud, is scheduled to address ‘Retos de la salud digital en la era de la IA’. WHO/Europe includes Spain among the countries receiving technical support for national digital-health strategies. Its programme also addresses cybersecurity, equity, telemedicine and digital mental health. Antonio Mazuecos will discuss legal responsibility for AI-assisted healthcare decisions, followed by José María Peña of Lurtis Ltd. on AI’s development, case studies and good practice. A later panel will include Mazuecos, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria court magistrate Javier Ercilla and cybersecurity specialist Rodrigo Melián.
Research and clinical practice feature in the afternoon sessions, including Rosa Rodríguez’s talk on advance directives from a procedural perspective. Gustavo Marrero will present work on multimodal AI imaging for brain tumour surgery and clinical validation within the European project STRATUM. The first day is scheduled to close with talks by Diego Antoñanzas de Toledo and Jesús Martín-Fernández.
The 14 November programme includes constitutional case law on the euthanasia law and cardiovascular research. Gonzalo Arévalo will discuss research-career opportunities in Spain’s national health system, including legislation and funding. WHO/Europe reports that only one in five countries in its region teaches AI to health students, one in four trains existing staff and 8% have a health-specific AI strategy. The closing session, ‘Hacia dónde va la investigación’, is scheduled to bring together IISC scientific directors Fernando Gutiérrez and Ángel Ramos, researcher María Ángeles Almeida and Lluis Blanc of the Consorcio Corporación Sanitaria Parque Taulí de Sabadell.
RUSSPAIN has also covered the COP’s IV Psychology and Addictions Day in Madrid in its COP event report.
Registration for the conference is available through the IISC website.
