Despite the numerous works evaluating Fritz Jahr’s importance for bioethics, there is still a widespread practice at best to put his name in some of the footnotes. The similar practice is recognized in Italy and the full appreciation of his work – contrary to the reception of Van Rensselaer Potter’s work – is still to come. First part of this paper is concerned with the mentioned uncommendable practice as a main motive of the article. Second part shortly captures the main facts about life and work of Fritz Jahr. Third part is dedicated to summary of extensive work of Van Rensselaer Potter. Next part reveals the trends and practices in Italy concerning the reception of those two «fathers of bioethics» and delineate the lines of research based on their work. In conclusion the authors call for caution and attentive approach to history of bioethics because mixing those research lines could be at least deceptive if not completely unfruitful.

Bioetika je do 1990-ih bila nepoznanicom u zemljama istočne Europe. Otvaranjem nakon pada komunističkih režima, međutim, spomenute zemlje rapidno poprimaju zapadnjačke trendove i modele bioetike, vodeći se zasadama georgetownskog Instituta za etiku Kennedyjevih – ni ne sluteći blizinu izvornosti bio-etike starog kontinenta. U radu se analizira bioetički status zemalja istočne Europe tražeći u njemu konture zanemarene europske intelektualne baštine. Sustavnim pregledom literature i terenskim istraživanjima postavljeni su temelji povijesne dinamike razvoja i premošćivanja biomedicinske etike zapadnog svijeta u bioetiku zemalja istočne Europe na razmeđu potterovske i Jahrove bioetike, bez poznavanja djela Fritza Jahra, no vodeći se njegovim temeljnim idejama.

Iako je utjecaj klimatskih promjena na čovjeka i okoliš odavno poznat, manje se važnosti pridaje bolestima koje na epidemiološka vrata ulaze sporednim putem. Zoonoze tako spadaju u skupinu bolesti čiju sve veću pojavnost možemo povezati upravo s klimatskim promjenama i stvaranjem preduvjeta za njihovo širenje. Pregledom literature utvrđena je sve veća osvještenost glede potencijalnih posljedica moguće pojavnosti zoonoza uzrokovanih zatopljenjem na globalnoj razini, no usprkos tomu u Hrvatskoj takva istraživanja (još) nisu prepoznata. Pod hipotezom da klimatske promjene i globalno zatopljenje uzrokovano industrijskim onečišćenjem i antropogenim čimbenicima uzrokuju pojavnost zoonoza, nude se rješenja preventivnog karaktera, koja uz pravovremenu detekciju i epidemiološke intervencije nužno ne utječu na pojavnost zoonoza. Ono što je izglednije i nezanemarivo, jest činjenica da klimatske promjene stvaraju preduvjete za različite puteve prijenosa i širenje zoonoza što bi, ako se negativan trend globalnog zatopljenja nastavi, moglo s vremenom utjecati na njihovu incidenciju i prevalenciju – svakako i u Hrvatskoj – što iz javnozdravstvenog prerasta u globalni okolišnoetički problem.

Sanitary engineering is burdened by several challenges that attract bioethical attention: (1) there are many ambiguities regarding the definition of the profession; (2) its methodology seems to be a combination of several approaches from different sciences; and (3) it often appears to be an amalgam of different disciplines. We argue that the bioethical perspective helps to show that these features can be taken as a stimulating challenge. Moreover, bioethics may illuminate how these features can become an asset to sanitary engineering in light of the growing need for holistic approaches. First, we present a bioethical analysis of the aforementioned features as a useful way to clarify and strengthen the identity of the profession. Second, we argue that professional ethics have received the least attention, but are crucial to giving the profession stronger independence and professional identity and to creating a unique worldview at the crossroads of environmental and public health ethics. Finally, we propose a general framework of sound professional ethics of sanitary engineering as a necessary step towards rethinking the core values of the profession, clearly articulating a genuine professional ethic, and reforming educational politics related to professional education.

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