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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Katherine Wasson, PhD, MPH, Chief, Clinical Ethics Service, Assistant Professor, Critical Care, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 238, Houston, TX 77030-4009, 713-722-8775, wassonk@mail.nih.gov

Moral frameworks specifically for public health have received increased scholarly and practical attention. It is argued that some dilemmas in public health differ in morally relevant ways from those that arise in biomedical ethics, such as the tension between what is in the common versus individual good or interests and the emphasis on a population level assessment of benefits and burdens. Human rights have been proposed as one moral basis and framework for public health, and the Public Health Code of Ethics (PHCE) advocates attention to the rights of individuals in the community. Positively, attention to human rights and the alleged ‘right to health' may raise the profile of justice as a moral concern. Yet, any discussion of human rights as a basis for a public health moral framework raises critical questions about the bases - whether legal or moral - and practical application. The difficulties posed by human rights, their role as minimum or maximum standards, and the challenge of enforcement and relevant sanctions if they are not upheld will be examined. In light of the critique, a more refined framework of moral values will be proposed. This framework will be evaluated through application to dilemmas in public health practice such as screening mammography for younger women, and direct-to-consumer genetic testing.

Learning Objectives:

• Critically examine the need for moral frameworks in public health
• Investigate and critique human rights as one potential framework
• Propose a more refined framework of moral values and evaluate its practical application.

Keywords: Ethics, Human Rights

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No