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Decrease transmission through border control

Decrease transmission by limiting the travel of people who are actually or potentially infectious

 

  • Restrictions on individual liberties should not be adopted un­less there is a reasonable expectation that they will have a significant impact on containing the spread or mitigating the impact of the disease, and they should be terminated when they no longer appear to offer significant benefits. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Requirements for mandatory liberty-limiting and social distancing interventions should be imposed only in cases in which voluntary actions seem unlikely to be effective. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Ensure that reasonable alternative options are considered and evaluated and that final public health policies and plans are designed to most effectively accomplish stated goals while minimizing the potential for harm. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.5.9.
  • In enacting any measure where personal freedom is limited, the least restrictive, effective measure should be taken. Enactment of these measures should be based on the best available scientific evidence. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Ensure that resulting interventions have the least restrictions necessary to protect the public. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.2.8.
  • Restrictions on personal freedom should be equitably applied. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • The World Health Organization should remain aware of the impact of travel recommendations on affected countries and should make every effort to be as transparent and equitable as possible when issuing such recommendations. University of Toronto
  • Ensure that resulting interventions do not have a disproportionately negative impact on minority or otherwise vulnerable populations (including children and elders) and that there is an effort to enhance the resilience of populations and ecosystems to prevent future harm. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.2.9.
  • Reduce or eliminate negative impacts on communities and the environment, particularly as these negative impacts tend to be disproportionately experienced by individuals already faced with health inequities. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.5.8.
  • Base health promotion efforts on respect for the dignity and capability of individuals, not on strategies of stigmatization or on appeals to motivations of fear, disgust, and shame. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.7.3.
  • The public should be clearly informed that restrictions on personal freedom are anticipated, that these limitations may be important to the individual’s own protection, and that they are also necessary to limit the spread of disease throughout the community. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Governments and the health care sector should ensure that the public is aware of: the rationale for restrictive measures; the benefits of compliance; and the consequences of non-compliance. University of Toronto
  • A process should be in place for objections to be heard, restrictions appealed, and for new procedures to be considered prior to implementation. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu


What is Pandemic Ethics?

A pandemic is pervasive in scope and touches virtually every human-made system. In this dashboard, we focus on ethics in a government’s or an employer’s actions in a pandemic.

Public health ethics addresses the relationship between those governing or administrating and the population or employees they serve. They are best summarized by the Public Health Code of Ethics of the American Public Health Association.

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