A rich and growing body of literature has emerged on ethics in epidemiologic research and public health practice. Recent articles have included conceptual frameworks of public health ethics and overviews of historical developments in the field. Several important topics in public health ethics have also been highlighted. Attention to ethical issues can facilitate the effective planning, implemen...

Health is a value, both objective and subjective, yet it is not the only value that contributes to the well-being of persons. In public health, there are different connotations of the term "public" relevant from an ethical perspective: population, government action, and collective action of the community. Ethics seeks to provide a basis for and justify moral decisions and actions. Ethics asks, ...

Public health ethics has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. Frequently, public health practitioners have to confront complex decisions, with numerous and often conflicting ethical implications. The objective of this study was to obtain information on the teaching of public health ethics in India by making a detailed examination of the public health and community medicine curri...

OBJECTIVE To describe the state of research ethics policies and practices in health research institutions in sub-Saharan African countries. DESIGN A structured questionnaire was used to solicit information on research ethics from health research institutions. SETTING Forty-two sub-Saharan African countries. PARTICIPANTS Key informants from the health research institutions. MAIN OUTCOME ...

This perspective is an ethical brief overview and examination of “wellness” policies in the modern workplace using practical examples and a general application of utilitarianism. Many employers are implementing policies that provide incentives to employees who lead a “healthy” lifestyle. The authors address how these policies could adversely affect “non-healthy” employees. There are a wide vari...

this commentary explores some of the issues raised by gilbert et al.short communication, morality and markets in the nhs. the increasing role of market mechanisms and the changing types of healthcare providers together with the use of choice and competition to drive improvements in quality in the national health service (nhs), all have important ethical implications. in order for the nhs to con...

this commentary is a brief response to nir eyal’s argument that health policies should not make healthy behaviour a condition or prerequisite in order to access healthcare as it could result in the people who need healthcare the most not being able to access healthcare. while in general agreement due to the shared concern for equity, i argue that making health behaviour a condition to accessing...

BACKGROUND Teaching ethics in public health programmes is not routine everywhere - at least not in most schools of public health in the European region. Yet empirical evidence shows that schools of public health are more and more interested in the integration of ethics in their curricula, since public health professionals often have to face difficult ethical decisions. DISCUSSION The authors ...

OBJECTIVE To identify and describe the current state of clinical ethics support services in the UK. DESIGN A series of questionnaire surveys of key individuals in National Health Service (NHS) trusts, health authorities, health boards, local research ethics committees and health professional organisations. Interviews with chairmen/women of clinical ethics committees identified in the surveys....