Public health is a field fraught with ethical dilemmas. Why? Because in public health, the stakes are high.
Ethical Dilemmas in Public Health
Public health is a field fraught with ethical dilemmas. Why? Because in public health, the stakes are high. Decisions may involve life-and-death consequences. In response to a disaster, for example, choosing one population to serve may have dire consequences for another population in equally critical straights. Issues are complex. For example, ethical guidelines in HIV trials in South Africa dictate that participants receive “state-of-the-art” HIV reduction interventions, yet some stakeholders believe that waiting for state-of-the-art interventions is not practical or economically feasible and can therefore be a harmful practice (Essack, 2014). Decreasing budgets and increasing costs necessitate that public health leaders sometimes must make difficult decisions involving equally deserving programs, or between the rights of the many versus the rights of the few or of individuals. Public health also serves the important goal of ensuring that benefits of interventions are distributed fairly and justly within populations.
Thus, it behooves public health administrators to familiarize themselves with the complexities of ethical principles and strategies and to be aware of their own alignment of ethical principles with personal values.
For this week’s Discussion, reflect on one of the ethics case studies at the end of Modules 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9, or embedded within Module 5, in Jennings et al. (2003) located in the Learning Resources, or the case study 6.3 in Novick and Morrow’s Public Health Administration (Shi & Johnson, 2014).
Consider the ethical principles that might guide you in dealing with the situation you chose. What insights does the Public Health Code of Ethics (e.g., “Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health”) offer you in this instance?
Reminder: Your initial response must be made in a single posting.
By Day 3
Post your response to the following:
Identify the ethical issues related to the selected case and explain why they are issues.
Referring specifically to the documents, “Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health” and “Skills for the Ethical Practice of Public Health,” identify specific ethical principles that would be most effective when applied to the ethical issues in this case scenario and justify your choices. In your evaluation, explain the consequences of these ethical principles as well; in other words, the barriers or costs of applying these actions as opposed to others.
Explain how you, as a public health administrator, would apply these principles in this situation (i.e., What actions would be most effective?). Are these actions in alignment or in conflict with your personal values? Briefly explain your response. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 5
Begin interacting with your colleagues in the Discussion by no later than Day 5 and continue engaging in the discussion through Day 7 by expanding on their post on the effectiveness of ethical principles or alignment of personal ethics in public health. In addition to your initial comprehensive post, you should post at least two substantial responses to other classmates.
Support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th. ed.). Washington, DC, to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct.
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