Ethics and human rights considerations regarding involuntary isolation of people with TB.

Abstract

Involuntary isolation of people with tuberculosis is rarely medically required, ethically permitted or justified on the ground of human rights law. The rare circumstances that do call for involuntary isolation must only occur once a number of conditions are met. These include just procedural protections and ensuring that all other options have been exhausted before resorting to involuntary isolation. This article is intended to outline for healthcare workers, policy makers and advocates the ethical reasoning behind isolation and involuntary isolation, as well as describing the requisite human rights laws that impinge on the topic. Finally, we present a list of conditions that must be met to justify involuntary isolation on the grounds of both ethics and human rights.