A Study Of Public Health Ethical Issues In Responding To Pandemic Influenza

A pandemic influenza,which is different from both seasonal influenza and avian influenza,is an epidemic that outbreaks worldwide.There is evidence that the potential risk of a pandemic influenza outbreak has been enhanced increasingly since the year of 2003.As China is among the areas with more influenza outbreaks,it is essential for her to respond to pandemic influenza actively.Not only medical issues but also public health ethical issues should be solved in the process of responding to pandemic influenza.It is vital to study public health ethical issues posed in responding to pandemic influenza and discuss how to solve them ethically, which can provide a basis for formulating policies and laws,and also can provide ethical evidences for evaluating whether the responding act is effective and can be justified ethically.In this paper,I study the three main ethical issues involving in responding to pandemic influenza by applying basic principles of public health ethics,and try to give some ethical suggestions for responding to pandemic influenza in China.Firstly,I analyze the possibility of a pandemic influenza outbreak both in worldwide and especially in China.And then I give a brief introduction of the main content of World Health Organization Strategic Action Plan for Pandemic Influenza,and the preparedness and planning by Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China(MOH).Secondly,I propose basic principles of public health ethics.They mainly include the principle of utility,the principle of justice,the principle of respect,the principle of solidarity and the principle of proportionality,which are the framework for evaluating responding acts to a pandemic influenza.They are prima facie obligations for public health professionals and what is the actual obligation in given context should be identified after weighing values and interests of all stakeholders concerned.Thirdly,I analyze and justify the three key public health ethical issues that can be faced in the process of responding to the pandemic,which involves in priority setting and equitable access to scarce medical resources,isolation/quarantine measures,as well as the role and obligations of health-care workers during an outbreak of pandemic influenza separately.Last but not least,I study the international experiences of ethical guidelines,which can act as a guide to responding to pandemic influenza from the view of ethics.And then I propose some ethical suggestions on responding to pandemic influenza in China.