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Build and maintain a public health infrastructure

The creation and implementation of policies depends on having a competent and well-supported public health work force.

 

  • Developing and maintaining health-care infrastructures for primary care is a ma­jor priority for pandemic preparedness, especially because such investments will be beneficial at all times and not only during a pandemic. WHO Ethics in a Pandemic Flu
  • Governments, hospitals and health regions should develop human resource strategies for communicable disease outbreaks that cover the diverse occupational roles, that are transparent in how individuals are assigned to roles in the management of an outbreak, and that are equitable with respect to the distribution of risk among individuals and occupational categories. University of Toronto
  • Provide for the recruitment, retention, and career development of highly qualified public health practitioners in managerial roles. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.1.
  • Ensure nondiscriminatory personnel practices in recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.2.
  • Professional colleges and associations should provide, by way of their codes of ethics, clear guidance to members in advance of a major communicable disease outbreak, such as pandemic flu. Existing mechanisms should be identified, or means should be developed, to inform college members as to expectations and obligations regarding the duty to provide care during a communicable disease outbreak. University of Toronto
  • Professional and non-professional staff should be aware of ethical obligations and professional duties during the time of an influenza pandemic. Clear expectations should be conveyed to both professional and non-professional staff. Indiana University
  • Provide ongoing training in all relevant areas to the workforce. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.1.
  • Promote education and training of public health workers from diverse social, cultural, economic, and other backgrounds and communities. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.2.
  • Support access to public health education and training and provide financial assistance based on need. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.3.
  • Provide adequate institutional and professional support to enable competent performance. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.4.
  • Provide ethics education as a central part of public health education and ongoing training. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.7.
  • Provide resources for periodic education and staff training concerning ethical issues that arise throughout the organization’s work, both among staff and in the broader community. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.6.
  • Public health officials have a responsibility to maximize preparedness in order to minimize the need to make allocation decisions later. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Maintain an organizational culture that promotes ethical integrity and equal dignity and respect in relationships among staff, with the outside community, and with the beneficiaries of the organization’s public health programs and services. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.4.
  • Incorporate periodic financial disclosures and prohibitions on conflicts of interest, including perceived conflicts of interest applicable to all directors, management, staff, and the organization itself. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.3.
  • Establish employee performance standards and evaluations based on ethical standards of conduct and public health values. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.5.
  • Establish formal structures, such as ethics committees, to address and resolve ethical disagreements and challenges and to enhance organizational ethics and decision making. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.7.

(See also Collaborate with other governments and institutions)

  • The developed world should continue to invest in the surveillance capacity of developing countries and should also make investments to further improve the overall public health infrastructure of developing countries. University of Toronto


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.

Contact Jim Thomas