Public Health Ethics And Equity

This volume examines the foundations of health equity. With contributions from distinguished philosophers, anthropologists, economists, and public-health specialists, it centres on five major themes: what is health equity?; health equity and its relation to social justice; health inequalities and responsibilities for health; ethical issues in health evaluation and prioritization; and anthropological perspectives on health equity. [Extrait p. 4 couv.]

As it seeks to protect the health of populations, public health inevitably confronts a range of critical ethical challenges. This volume brings together 25 articles that open up the terrain of the ethics of public health. It features topics such as tobacco and drug control, and infectious disease.

In this volume a range of issues in public health ethics are explored using the resources of theory, political philosophy, philosophy of science, applied ethics, law and economics. [Ed.]

This Open Access book highlights the ethical issues and dilemmas that arise in the practice of public health. It is also a tool to support instruction, debate, and dialogue regarding public health ethics. Although the practice of public health has always included consideration of ethical issues, the field of public health ethics as a discipline is a relatively new and emerging area. There are few practical training resources for public health practitioners, especially resources which include discussion of realistic cases which are likely to arise in the practice of public health. This work discusses these issues on a case to case basis and helps create awareness and understanding of the ethics of public health care. The main audience for the casebook is public health practitioners, including front-line workers, field epidemiology trainers and trainees, managers, planners, and decision makers who have an interest in learning about how to integrate ethical analysis into their day to day public health practice. The casebook is also useful to schools of public health and public health students as well as to academic ethicists who can use the book to teach public health ethics and distinguish it from clinical and research ethics.

Public health ethics is a discipline concerned with the health of the public or a population as a whole, rather than focusing on the individual. This book introduces a number of this new field's central concepts and explores the key and controversial issues arising. Topics covered include the nature of public health ethics, the concepts of disease and prevention, risk and precaution, health inequalities and justice, screening, vaccination and disease control, smoking and issues relating to the environment and public health. With insightful contributions from leading experts, Public Health Ethics presents thought-provoking reviews of these topics, at the same time as encouraging and identifying areas for future discussion in this emerging discipline. This is a valuable addition to the library of anyone working in the fields of public health, health policy, ethics, philosophy and social science.

This progressive resource places concepts of social determinants of health in the larger contexts of contemporary health ethics and the evolution of social reform. It provides needed analysis of the larger causes behind the immediate causes of illness and epidemics, particularly injustice, systemic inequities, and the cumulative effect of compound disadvantages. This moral approach to collective and individual responsibilities—on the part of practitioners as well as the public—supports a sound blueprint for finding answers to longstanding global and local concerns. Readers are challenged to recognize the critical role of social determinants to their perception of health issues, controversies, and possibilities as the book: · Details the epidemiologic evidence regarding social determinants of health. · Key ethical implications of the evidence regarding social determinants of health. · Considers the role of risky health behaviors in determining population health outcomes. · Addresses ethical questions of priority-setting at the policy and practice levels. · Translates social determinants of health into health policy goals. Half textbook, half monograph, Public Health Ethics and the Social Determinants of Health Is geared toward students in MPH programs as well as public health professionals in diverse contexts such as local health departments and non-profit organizations. It informs public health scientists and scholars, and can also serve as an introductory text for students in public health ethics, or as part of a general applied ethics course.

The study of public health aims to protect and promote the wellbeing of the public as well as reduce health inequalities. Public health ethics asks how far we should go to achieve these goals, balancing the rights and needs of individuals against those of the community. But what are these and how much weight should be given to each of them? In the third edition of his well-loved textbook, Stephen Holland shows how philosophy is key to evaluating the suitability of public health interventions. Holland explores the key goals of public health ethics in relation to both moral and political philosophy, reflecting on our everyday intuitions about which public health policies are justified. In light of recent developments, he includes new content exploring equity and health inequalities, and on how public health information is gathered and used. The book is updated throughout with material on contemporary cases, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Health Ethics continues to provide a lively, accessible and philosophically informed introduction. As well as being an ideal student text, Holland’s systematic discussion will engage the more advanced reader and inform scholarship in the field.