Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Outbreaks
2016
This report from the World Health Organization (WHO) outlines guidelines for policymakers, researchers, and public health professionals on the ethical issues likely to arise with infectious disease outbreaks. Outbreaks bring uncertainty, social and institutional disruption, and fear and distrust that may compete with ethical values. This report serves as a complementary set of guidelines to existing guidance on ethics in public health and can help set up decision-making systems and procedures to ensure that ethically appropriate responses are taken if an outbreak occurs. Health-care institutions, international organizations, and other actors involved in epidemic response must collaborate to develop practical strategies and tools to apply these principles to their own settings and contexts. The report particularly emphasizes the following ethical principles that can be applied to infectious disease outbreaks: justice, beneficence, utility, respect for persons, liberty, reciprocity, and solidarity.
Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Outbreaks
Source:
Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Outbreaks. World Health Organization 2016. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/250580.