The Council of Europe has adopted a new strategic plan on human rights in biomedicine and health for 2026-30, setting a forward-looking framework to protect human dignity, fundamental rights and ethical standards amid rapid biomedical and technological change.
The plan is built on four pillars:
Safeguard - The plan focuses on strengthening implementation of the Convention on human rights and biomedicine (Oviedo Convention) and its additional protocols, promoting a human-rights-based approach to healthcare and advancing equitable access to healthcare as a core right.
Adapt - The Council of Europe will re-examine existing legal instruments to keep them relevant in a fast-evolving biomedical landscape, and to embed principles such as autonomy, privacy and personal integrity into digital health governance.
Anticipate - The plan stresses the importance of forward-looking analysis to identify emerging ethical and human-rights challenges linked to rapid technological and societal change.
Engage - The Council of Europe plans to ensure diverse stakeholder engagement and deepen cooperation both internally and internationally on bioethical issues, while fostering public debate on developments and health.
Building on the 2020-25 plan, the new roadmap promotes an intersectional approach and aligns with the Council of Europe's broader commitments under the 2023 Reykjavik Declaration. It also highlights the need to build resilience against disinformation and other threats to democratic integrity in the health sector. In this context, the Council of Europe will prioritise health literacy and the creation of a coalition of member states in this area.
The new plan was developed through consultations with human-rights institutions, national ethics bodies, academic experts, policymakers and civil society, with a member of the Advisory Council on youth contributing throughout to ensure young people's perspectives were included.
New strategic plan on human rights in biomedicine and health for 2026-30
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