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EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

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This is a series of presentations I gave in the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)'s Public Health Ethics (PHE) course that was held in Amman in June 2014. It is a revised introduction to public health ethics.
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EMPHNET Introduction to Public Health Ethics Ghaiath M. A. Hussein MBBS, MHSc. (Bioethics), PhD Researcher Email: [email protected] Regency Palace Hotel, Amman, Jordan 15-19 June, 2014
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Page 1: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

EMPHNETIntroduction to Public Health Ethics

Ghaiath M. A. HusseinMBBS, MHSc. (Bioethics), PhD Researcher

Email: [email protected]

Regency Palace Hotel, Amman, Jordan15-19 June, 2014

Page 2: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Course objectives

• To consider critically a range of conceptual and ethical issues that we face in public health care provision.

• To provide an opportunity to reflect critically on, challenge, develop and refine our ethical positions on particular issues.

• To analyze these issues using ethical frameworks, and to assess the value of such frameworks.

Page 3: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Course Outline• Module 1: introduction to public health ethics (PHE)• Module 2: ethical principles, theories and the core professional

public health values• Module 3: ethical issues in surveillance, screening and outbreak

investigation• Module 4: ethical issues in health promotion• Module 5: ethical issues in vaccination• Module 6: ethical issues in public health emergencies and

disasters• Module 7: ethical issues in global health and research• Module 8: ethical codes and frameworks

Page 4: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Learning methods

• Presentations (by facilitators and you ;), • Small group discussions, • problem/case discussion, • Learn from each other’s experiences,

perspectives, arguments, etc.

Ethics learning is best done independently: readings, reflections, arguments

4

Page 5: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Before we start… let’s agree

– All participate … tous participe… يشارك الكل– Don’t hesitate to ask or to say what you think– Doing at least one reading before coming– Listen as much you want to be listened to– Mobiles Silent or vibrating– If needed, fell free to leave the training venue– Feel free to suggest changes in the training plan (but

don’t touch the breaks please :)– Priority is given to discussion than to ‘finish the day’s

quota’!!5

Page 6: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

MODULE ONE: INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS (PHE)

Page 7: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Outline for today’s session

• The roles of the healthcare practitioner• The technical and ethical differences between

clinical care and public health practice• The definition and taxonomy of ethics (ethical

issue, ethics, bioethics, clinical ethics, research ethics and public health ethics)• The importance of ethics in PH practice and

research

Page 8: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

The roles of the healthcare practitioner

• Practitioner • Researcher• Educator • Counsellor • Manager/administrator • Advocate

(Frank JR. (Ed.), 2005)

Page 9: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Key definitions and concepts – What is Public Health about?– What is ethics/bioethics?– What is Public Health Ethics?– What is an ethical issue?

Page 10: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

TELL ME ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH

Source: http://professiongal.com/

Page 11: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

What is Public Health about?Aspect Clinical care Public healthMain aim Treat sick individuals (cure) Prevent healthy individuals from getting ill

(prevention)

Beneficiaries Individuals (healthy or sick) and families

Population (community)

Scope Clinical care, diagnosis, and treatment Health education, health promotion, and community-based interventions

Fields (specialties)

Internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, etc.

Epidemiology, health promotion, biostatistics Occupational health, etc.

Guidance Clinical guidelines, hospital policies, etc.

PH guidelines, regulations, laws

Examples of ethical issues and questions

Issues related to the individuals’ right to decide (autonomy), privacy and confidentiality, etc.- When is it ethical to disclose a

patient’s medical information?- How to decide which patient

should have which service (e.g. an ICU bed)?

Issues related to the tension between the individual rights (interests) and the public good (interests)- When is it ethical to limit the freedom of

movement of a patient with an infectious disease (e.g. in case of pandemic)?

- Do parents have the right to refuse vaccinating their children?

Page 12: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Which one would you drink?

WHY? Place matt ers?

Page 13: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Less Embarrassing Choices

• I need to pass the exam..cheat or not?• I need my experiment finished… don’t tell the patient it’s a trial• I need the money of this Pharmaceutical company. Shall I change

the results of my research on their drug?• …

Ethics is about making choices…Usually hard ones !

Page 14: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

What do you think?

He Killed Her!!

Page 15: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Ethical/Moral reasoning

• It is the process we need to go through to reach a decision about an ethical issue.

• It helps us to differentiate: – Values and ethical principles– Facts: description of the way the world is; an actual

state of affairs (“is”)– Values: judgment about the way things should be

(“ought”).– Ethical principles: they are meant to guide actions.

Key values in bioethics have corresponding (e.g., principle of respect for autonomy)

Page 16: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

What is ethics?

• A system of moral principles or standards governing conduct.

• a system of principles by which human actions and proposals may be judged good or bad, right or wrong;

• A set of rules or a standard governing the conduct of a particular class of human action or profession;

• Any set of moral principles or values recognized by a particular religion, belief or philosophy;

• The principles of right conduct of an individual. (UNESCO/IUBS/Eubios Living Bioethics Dictionary version 1.4)

Page 17: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Morality and Ethics…

• Morality: the beliefs and standards of good and bad, right and wrong, that people actually do and should follow in a society, while ethics is defined as the systematic study of morality.

• Metaethics: tries to clarify the rational standards and methods for the study of ethics

• Normative ethics: develops ethical principles, rules, and ideals that spell out standards of good and bad, right and wrong. It can be divided into: moral theory and applied ethics.

Page 18: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Bioethics • Bioethics: is normative ethics applied to

decision-making and public policy in the domains of biology, health care and research.

• It aims at the identification, analysis, and resolution of the ethical issues in almost any field that is related to human life and health.

• Domains:– Clinical/medical ethics -Research ethics– Public health ethics -Environmental ethics– Resource allocation ethics -Organizational ethics, etc.

Page 19: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Public Health Ethics (PHE)

• Public Health Ethics (PHE): – the identification, analysis, and resolution

of ethical problems arising in public health practice and research

Page 20: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS – AN OVERVIEW

Page 21: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Case: TB patient to JAIL• In Countristan, treatment of all TB patients is free. Patients are

expected to show to the nearest health center (HC) to receive the treatment under direct observation (DOTS).

• The HC keeps a record of ‘which patient had which dose’. • The TB officer in that region of Coutristan noted that one of the TB

patient, Mr. Contagious did not receive his doses for the last couple of weeks.

• The Officer approached Mr. Contagious to persuade him to take the doses on time.

• The patient refused. The Officer presented an official request to the Attorney General (AG) in the region saying that “Mr. Contagious presents danger to the public.”

• The AG issued an Order of Arrest against Mr. Contagious for the whole duration of the TB treatment.

What are the ethical issues at stake here?

Page 22: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

What’s ethically unique about public health?

• Public vs. individuals’ rights• Scarcity of resources• Socio-political factors:–Poverty, illiteracy , minorities, vulnerability–Abuse of power (‘Nanny State’ & public

engagement)• Socio-cultural factors:– Local beliefs vs. “international guidelines”–Role of families and community leaders

• Urgency to contain public health threats• Inequalities (national and international)

Page 23: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Key messages and conclusions

• Public health has the potential to produce public good, but also wide-scale harms

• Public health ethics helps us to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms

• Public health ethics helps us maintain the most important aspect of our field – public trust

Page 24: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

Questions & Discussion

Feel free to contact:

Ghaiath HusseinDoctoral researcher, University of Birmingham, UK

Email: [email protected]

Page 25: EMPHNET Public Health Ethics (PHE): Introduction to public health ethics (phe)

References & Readings• Frank JR. The CanMEDS 2005 physician competency framework: Better

standards, better physicians, better care. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; 2005

• Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health; Public Health Leadership Society (2002)

• Ethics and Public Health: Model Curriculum. Ed. Bruce Jennings et al. (2003)• Childress JF, Faden RR, Gaare RD, Gostin LO, Kahn J, Bonnie RJ, Kass NE,

Mastroianni AC, Moreno JD, Nieburg P: Public health ethics: mapping the terrain. J Law Med Ethics 2002, 30:170-8.

• Public health: disconnections between policy, practice and research. Jansen et al. Health Research Policy and Systems 2010, 8:37

• Ethical issues in epidemiologic research and public health practice. Steven S Coughlin. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2006, 3:16

• Accountability for reasonableness. Norman Daniels, BMJ 2000;321:1300-1301


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