Balancing the needs of the population with respect for individual rights.
What is Public Health ethics?
Let’s begin by understanding the historical tension: Physicians have both advanced and resisted health system change.
Narrative Ethics in Public Health: The Value of Stories, Springer
Public Health Ethics is a framework that helps guide decision-making where actions intended to promote the common good may conflict with individual freedoms. Unlike clinical ethics, which focuses on individuals, public health ethics consider population-level interventions and how to ensure they are just, equitable, and respectful.
Core functions of Public Health ethics
- Prioritizes the health of the population while safeguarding individual rights.
- Justifies actions like quarantine, vaccination, and health surveillance.
- Builds trust in public health institutions.
- Promotes social justice and equity.
- Balances trade-offs between risks, benefits, and rights.
Principles of Public Health ethics
Kent State Blog: Exploring Ethical Issues in Public Health Practice, 2024
Because this is a relatively new field of study, there are no agreed-upon principles – that said, the following provide a nice collection that necessarily overlap with biomedical ethics:
- Public Health Ethics: Global Cases, Practice, and Context; Springer.
- Defining Public Health Ethics for Practitioners; Springer.
- Health Management, Ethics and Research; OpenLearning.
- Principles of Clinical Ethics and Their Application to Practice, NIH.
- Teaching seven principles for public health ethics: towards a curriculum for a short course on ethics in public health programmes, NIH; BMC Medical Ethics.
- Public Health Ethics, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Ethics Explainer: The Harm Principle.
- Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health, Public Health Leadership Society.
- A Closer Look at the Three Core Functions of Public Health, Fairfield University.
- Ethical Principles of Public Health, Hillsdale College.
Case studies for application
congenital syphilis and partner notification
Ethical tension
Privacy/confidentiality vs. Community protection
Questions to answer via Slack (required)
- Should partners be notified without the patient’s consent?
- How do we protect the newborn while respecting the mother’s autonomy?
tuberculosis (TB) control
Ethical tension
Individual liberty vs. Mandatory treatment/quarantine
Questions to answer via Slack (required)
- When is it justified to isolate or detain someone for non-compliance?
- What safeguards must be in place to ensure fairness?
summary
Public Health Ethics is not just about doing what’s good—it's about doing what’s right, fair, and just while being effective.
- Guides policy decisions in vaccination, outbreak response, screening programs, and more.
- Balances individual rights with population-level needs.
- Promotes trust, fairness, and community engagement.