Ethics in Public Health and Health Policy

Ethical issues associated with public health and health policy--related, for example,  to pandemic plans and vaccination policies (c.f. SARS or pandemic influenza), preventive measures like screening (e.g. for breast cancer or dementia) or health information campaigns, social inequalities or health care rationing--are increasing in worldwide importance. Evidence-based information for valid benefit-harm assessment is often rare and hard to get for participants in public health interventions. Program implementation often disregards requirements of fair decision-making processes (like public participation, transparency, etc.). Originating from an international conference (based on a call for abstracts and external review), this volume contains contributions from a group of experts from multiple disciplines and countries.  It covers (i) conceptual foundations of public health ethics, (ii) methodological approaches and (iii) normative analyses of specific issues and cases. Bridging theoretical foundations with practical applications, this volume provides a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners and students concerned with public health practice and policy.      

Preface; Daniel Strech; Irene Hirschberg; Georg Marckmann.- Introduction; Daniel Strech.- Irene Hirschberg; Jasper Littmann; Daniel Strech; Where Public Health meets Ethics. Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges of Public Health; Part I – CONCEPTS.- Kalle Grill; Normative and non-normative concepts: Paternalism and libertarian paternalism.- Kristin Voigt; ‘If you smoke, you stink.’ Denormalisation strategies for the improvement of health-related behaviours: the case of tobacco.-

Harald Schmidt; Should Public Health Ethics embrace the right not to think about one’s health?.-  Part II – METHODS & TEACHING.- Holly A. Taylor; Incorporating Ethics into Teaching Health Policy Analysis.- Alison K. Thompson; Critical Public Health Ethics. Teaching for moral imagination and discernment.- Angus Dawson; Ross Upshur; A Model Curriculum for Public Health Ethics.-

Neema Sofaer; Daniel Strech; Systematic reviews of reasons in public health ethics literature: A roadmap.-  Part III – CASES.- Stephen D. John; Cancer screening, risk stratification and the ethics of apt categorisation: A case-study.-  Inge Lecluijze; Bart Penders; Frans Feron; Klasien Horstman; Innovation and Justification in Public Health: The Introduction of the Child Index in the Netherlands.- Jasper Littmann; Distributing vaccine fairly during influenza pandemics – a case study from Berlin.- Verina Wild; Asylum seekers and public health ethics.- Georg Marckmann; Johannes J.M. van Delden; Anna M. Sanktjohanser; Sabine Wicker; Influenza vaccination for health care personnel in long-term care homes: What restrictions of individual freedom of choice are morally justifiable?.