Abstract
The study of ethics in public health became a societal imperative following the horrors of pre World War II eugenics, the Holocaust, and the Tuskegee Experiment (and more recent similar travesties). International responses led to: the Nuremberg Doctors’ Trials, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CCPCG, 1948), which includes sanctions against incitement to genocide. The Declaration of Geneva (1948) set forth the physician’s dedication to the humanitarian goals of medicine, a declaration especially important in view of the medical crimes which had just been committed in Nazi Germany. This led to a modern revision of the Hippocratic Oath in the form of the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) for medical research ethical standards, which has been renewed periodically and adopted worldwide to ensure ethical research practices. Public health ethics differs from traditional biomedical ethics in many respects, specifically in its emphasis on societal considerations of prevention, equity, and population-level issues. Health care systems are increasingly faced with the need to integrate clinical medicine with public health and health policy. As health systems and public health evolve, the ethical issues in health care also bridge the gap between the separation of bioethics and public health ethics in the past. These complexities calls for the inclusion of ethics in public health education curricula and competencies across the many professions in public health, in the policy arena, as well as educational engagement with the public and the lay communities and other stakeholders.
Highlights
The 20th century provided horrendous examples of violence, neglect, injustice, suffering and death that resulted from disregard of fundamental values and goals of public health (PH)
The outcomes of this international ethical reassessment have been codified in various United Nations charters of human rights and genocide, as well as in setting standards on human subject research like those set forth by the World Medical Association in Tulchinsky et al Public Health Reviews (2015) 36:4 the Declaration of Helsinki [1]
We address the development process of case studies, their peer review, and their utility in preparing faculty for incorporation of PH ethics educational components at all levels of public health education, including education of the general public [5]
Summary
The 20th century provided horrendous examples of violence, neglect, injustice, suffering and death that resulted from disregard of fundamental values and goals of public health (PH). In this article we address the development and integration of ethics in formal public health degree programs and in continuing professional education in public health. Offering ethics training, including ethical analysis of the public health issues involved, should be part of every public health curriculum as a dedicated course of cross disciplinary importance.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
