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An ethics framework for public health

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  • Kass, N.E.

Abstract

More than 100 years ago, public health began as an organized discipline, its purpose being to improve the health of populations rather than of individuals. Given its population-based focus, however, public health perennially faces dilemmas concerning the appropriate extent of its reach and whether its activities infringe on individual liberties in ethically troublesome ways. In this article a framework for ethics analysis of public health programs is proposed. To advance traditional public health goals while maximizing individual liberties and furthering social justice, public health interventions should reduce morbidity or mortality; data must substantiate that a program (or the series of programs of which a program is a part) will reduce morbidity or mortality; burdens of the program must be identified and minimized; the program must be implemented fairly and must, at times, minimize preexisting social injustices; and fair procedures must be used to determine which burdens are acceptable to a community.

Suggested Citation

  • Kass, N.E., 2001. "An ethics framework for public health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(11), pages 1776-1782.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2001:91:11:1776-1782_0
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    Cited by:

    1. Chris Jenkins & Marta Lomazzi & Heather Yeatman & Bettina Borisch, 2016. "Global Public Health: A Review and Discussion of the Concepts, Principles and Roles of Global Public Health in Today's Society," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 7(3), pages 332-339, September.
    2. Fourie, Carina & Biller-Andorno, Nikola & Wild, Verina, 2014. "Systematically evaluating the impact of diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) on health care delivery: A matrix of ethical implications," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 157-164.
    3. Sun, Xiaoqian & Wandelt, Sebastian & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "Vaccination passports: Challenges for a future of air transportation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 394-401.
    4. Xiaolong Hou & Yang Jiao & Leilei Shen & Zhuo Chen, 2024. "The lasting impact of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study: COVID-19 vaccination hesitation among African Americans," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-33, June.
    5. Renu Khanna, 2013. "Ethical Issues in Community Based Monitoring of Health Programmes: Reflections from India," Working Papers id:5587, eSocialSciences.
    6. Bombard, Yvonne & Abelson, Julia & Simeonov, Dorina & Gauvin, Francois-Pierre, 2011. "Eliciting ethical and social values in health technology assessment: A participatory approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 135-144, July.
    7. Michel Abramowicz & Ariane Szafarz, 2019. "Ethics of Randomized Controlled Trials: Should Economists Care about Equipoise?," Working Papers CEB 19-017, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Sean G. Young, 2023. "Hidden Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic Response," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-7, April.
    9. Chakrabarty, Debajyoti & Bhatia, Bhanu & Jayasinghe, Maneka & Low, David, 2023. "Relative deprivation, inequality and the Covid-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    10. Maria Carnovale & Khahlil Louisy, 2021. "Public Health, Technology, and Human Rights: Lessons from Digital Contact Tracing," Papers 2107.07552, arXiv.org.
    11. Resta, Emanuela & Logroscino, Giancarlo & Tafuri, Silvio & Peter, Preethymol & Noviello, Chiara & Costantiello, Alberto & Leogrande, Angelo, 2024. "The ESG Determinants of Mental Health Index Across Italian Regions: A Machine Learning Approach," MPRA Paper 121204, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Niamh Fitzgerald & James Nicholls & Jo Winterbottom & Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, 2017. "Implementing a Public Health Objective for Alcohol Premises Licensing in Scotland: A Qualitative Study of Strategies, Values, and Perceptions of Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, February.
    13. Holmes-Watts, Tania & Watts, Scotney, 2008. "Legal frameworks for and the practice of participatory natural resources management in South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(7-8), pages 435-443, October.
    14. Vallgårda, Signild, 2012. "Nudge—A new and better way to improve health?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 200-203.
    15. Melissa Chinchilla & Mariana C. Arcaya, 2017. "Using Health Impact Assessment as an Interdisciplinary Teaching Tool," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, July.
    16. Claire Norman & Josephine M. Wildman & Sarah Sowden, 2021. "COVID-19 at the Deep End: A Qualitative Interview Study of Primary Care Staff Working in the Most Deprived Areas of England during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    17. Wilson, Nick & Thomson, George, 2005. "Tobacco taxation and public health: ethical problems, policy responses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 649-659, August.
    18. Maria Chiara Demartini & Valentina Beretta, 2020. "La gestione della cronicit? nelle aziende sanitarie: una rassegna della letteratura," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(116), pages 7-30.
    19. Paul Ndebele & Hina Shaikh & Nino Paichadze & Imran Bari & David Michaels & Carlos Santos Burgoa & Adnan A. Hyder, 2020. "Commercial determinants of health: an ethical exploration," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(7), pages 1123-1132, September.
    20. Carlo Petrini, 2010. "Theoretical Models and Operational Frameworks in Public Health Ethics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, January.
    21. Joanna Holub-Iwan, 2021. "Management Information Systems of Public Health Behaviors based on Evidence in Medicine and Health Management," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 1), pages 623-643.
    22. Thierry Hurlimann & Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas & Abha Saxena & Gerardo Zamora & Béatrice Godard, 2017. "Ethical issues in the development and implementation of nutrition-related public health policies and interventions: A scoping review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-25, October.
    23. Xiaojun Zhang & Fanfan Wang & Changwen Zhu & Zhiqiang Wang, 2019. "Willingness to Self-Isolate When Facing a Pandemic Risk: Model, Empirical Test, and Policy Recommendations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, December.
    24. Laflamme, Lucie & Hasselberg, Marie & Reimers, Anne-Mari & Cavalini, Luciana Tricai & Ponce de Leon, Antonio, 2009. "Social determinants of child and adolescent traffic-related and intentional injuries: A multilevel study in Stockholm County," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1826-1834, May.

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