Respect for people in situations of vulnerability: A new principle for health-care professionals and health-care organizations

Abstract

T some extent all of us are vulnerable. Every human—indeed everything living—is capable of being hurt, wounded, or damaged. Some situations make us more vulnerable than others. Some situations of vulnerability bear on others’ moral responsibilities. Article 8 of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005) acknowledges the moral importance of taking human vulnerability into account “in applying or advancing scientific knowledge, medical practice, and associated technologies.” The Declaration also states that “Individuals and groups of special vulnerability should be protected and the personal integrity of such individuals should be respected” (2005, Article 8). The meaning and intended application of the Declaration’s Article 8 was the topic of a multiyear reflection by UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee (IBC), which culminated in June 2011 in the release of the Report of IBC on the Principle of Respect for Human Vulnerability and Personal Integrity. In its Report, the IBC regards human vulnerability as a permanent risk to the physical and mental integrity of the human (2011, Articles 6 and 41). This vulnerability is an inescapable feature of all human lives and is a risk that shapes